Can we take out a wall next to a stairwell?

Question

We have a vaulted ceilng with a beam going through the entire length of the house (modern). There is a closed stairway behind one dining room wall. The other side of the stair way is on the garage side. We want to cut a large hole in the wall and put a railing across the opening to make the room look more open. I was thinking it's not a supporting wall because there is a steel beem running from end to end of the house. We would leave supports on both sides of the railing. Do you think we can do this? You may email me if you have more info than you want to put here.

Answer 1

Take the original plan to a civil/structural engineer.

Answer 2

You need to get a structural engineer in to have a look at the home as sometimes you would be surprised at what is load bearing and what is not. Better safe than sorry I always say.

Answer 3

Assuming the closed stairway in attached to the actual back wall of the house, perpendicular to the beam, the garage side COULD be load bearing.

If the stairs run parallel to the steel beam, on an outside wall, then the outside wall would be load bearing.

Either way, opening the stairway into the living area should be OK.

Answer 4

After reading the other posts I would want you to have a local builder or a building official physically look at the structure. I can think of several ways that the stairway could run and the wall is probably not a structural one. But the only way to be totally sure is to invite the inspection. The local building department may be able to do this with a visit down there. On newer homes they may keep a copy of your plans on file and can tell you if the wall is structural by inspecting the plans assuming they were not adjusted when actually building. Hope this helps

Answer 5

u really need to be 100% sure that the wall is not a support bc if it is and u tear it down then ur house will cave in one thing u could do is open the wall a little at a time and out supports there to leave like small poles or something like that

or u can do what m brother did in my moms house there was this 3 foot wide wall in the middle of the kitchen that was the support of the hole celling that was connected to a bar and cabinets he put a beam up all the was across celling bc there wasnt one and tore that out and made a big open kitchen and also knocked out the wall that was in between the kitchen and dinning room and made a really big area big enough that we have get together and can put some extra tables in and seat 18 or more people in that kitchen now so is it possible to knock ur wall out yes but u have to make sure that it is not supporting any thing and if it is u need to make a new support be4 do so hope this helped always remember if ur willing nothing is impossible