Kitchen Renovations
Load-Bearing Wall Removal in Calgary
Half the walls people are told are load-bearing (holding up the structure above) aren't. The other half are carrying something nobody mentioned.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
McAra Design + Build gives you a fixed price in writing before demolition starts, covering the engineering, the permit, temporary support, the new beam and the finishing work around it. A short span with a beam that fits flush inside the floor and no pipes or ducts in the wall is the simplest case. A long span, a weight point that has to carry all the way down to the footing, or ductwork and a plumbing pipe that need to be moved all raise the price.
Engineering and the permit are listed as separate line items so you can see them clearly. You get a fixed number in writing before demolition.
What's involved
Trace the weight path, then take the wall out around it.
- 01Checking the structure and tracing where the weight goes
- 02Designing a stamped, engineer-approved beam
- 03Building permit
- 04Temporary support while the wall is out
- 05Installing the beam and support posts
- 06Carrying weight points down to the footing where needed
- 07Moving ducts, plumbing and wiring
- 08Patching the floor and ceiling
- 09Drywall, paint and trim
- 10Inspection
What we check that others don't
What we check that others don't.
- §1
How you actually know a wall is load-bearing. Not by tapping on it and not by which way the floorboards run. We look in the basement and the attic at what sits above that wall, follow the direction of the floor joists and where they rest, and confirm whether the weight continues down to a beam and a footing. That's a physical check, not a guess.
- §2
What the wall is carrying besides weight. In a lot of Calgary bungalows, the wall people want gone is also carrying a main duct, the main plumbing pipe, or the electrical wiring to half the house. All of these can be moved, and each one has its own cost and route. Finding them during demolition is what turns a two-week job into a five-week one.
- §3
Where the weight points end up. A beam gathers weight that used to be spread across the whole wall and focuses it onto a few posts. That weight has to continue through the floor below to a post, and from the post down to a footing that can hold it. In older homes that often means pouring a new concrete pad in the basement floor. We design that path before the beam is even ordered.
- §4
Whether the beam can sit flush or has to hang below the ceiling. A flush beam fits inside the floor structure and gives you a flat ceiling, but costs more in labour. A beam that hangs below the ceiling costs less, and you'll see it every day. We show you both options, with the price difference and the finished ceiling height, before you choose.
- §5
Floor levels after the wall comes out. Removing a wall that's been carrying weight for decades can let the structure settle slightly, and old houses are rarely level to begin with. We measure the floor before and after, and if new flooring is going in over the opening, levelling is built into the plan instead of a surprise on install day.
How long it takes
Two to four weeks, plus the permit.
Engineering and the permit usually take two to four weeks before any work starts on site. Temporary support, installing the beam and the inspection usually take three to five days.
Moving ducts, a pipe or wiring adds a week or more, and patching, drywall and paint around the opening take the rest of the time. The structural inspection has to happen before anything is covered up, and that date is built into the schedule.
We put it in writing.
- A fixed price
- agreed before we start, and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
- A completion date
- in the contract, not a range, not a best guess.
- A workmanship warranty
- if it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
Most renovation guarantees are a paragraph of conditions. Ours is three commitments you can hold us to.
Questions people ask before they book.
- By tracing what actually sits on top of it. McAra Design + Build checks the basement and the attic, follows the direction of the floor joists and where they rest above and below the wall in question, and confirms whether that weight continues down to a beam and a footing. It's a physical check through the structure, not a guess made from inside the room.
- Yes to both, any time the wall carries weight. A stamped beam design from an engineer and a City of Calgary building permit are both required, and the structural work gets inspected before it's covered up with drywall. McAra Design + Build includes both as line items in the price, rather than something a homeowner has to arrange separately.
- Usually, yes. A flush beam sits inside the existing floor structure and keeps the ceiling flat, but takes more labour and framing detail than one that hangs below the ceiling. McAra Design + Build prices both options and shows you what each looks like finished, before you decide which one is worth the extra cost.
Where this sits
This work is part of Kitchen Renovations.
People looking at this page usually look at Whole-Home Renovations and Kitchen Cabinet Refacing in the same conversation.
Get a free in-home quote.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
What are you planning?
Or call Chris directly: +1 (587) 837-3113