How to Remove a Wall
If your home feels cramped and dark, you may want to consider demoing a wall or two. Removing walls lets in more natural light and makes a house feel larger and more inviting. Before you start slinging your sledgehammer, however, there are several things you need to check out first. Learn how to remove a wall in this Lowe’s video:
Exterior walls do a lot of the heavy lifting, but interior walls carry some of the load as well. Before you start demolition, you need to determine whether the wall is load-bearing.
- Go up to the attic and see if there are any support structures directly tied to it. If the truss is connected to the wall, then it’s load-bearing.
- Go down to the crawlspace and check whether there are any blocks or supports that carry the load down to the ground.
- Another way to identify a load-bearing wall is to look at what it’s made of. If the wall is built with 2×6 boards and contains stud packs (groups of boards nailed together to support a lot of weight), then the wall is probably load-bearing.
If the wall is not load-bearing, you can proceed with demo.
1. If there is a light switch, check whether it’s live by using a voltage tester. If it is, cut the power and re-check with the voltage tester.
2. Check the wall for plumbing by looking under the house and in the attic to see where the pipes are located to make sure the wall is pipe-free.
3. To be on the safe side, take it slow and carefully remove wood paneling with a pry bar to see what’s inside and avoid damaging any missed plumbing or electrical wiring.
4. Detach any electrical switches, roll them up and safely secure them from the ceiling.
5. Although you can use a sledgehammer or kick at the wall, the best tool for demolition is a reciprocating saw, which will allow you to cut through wood, metal or plastic. If you feel the blade binding and catching, that stud you’re cutting might be carrying structural load, so if you feel that, stop immediately and re-examine the structure.
6. As you’re removing studs from the wall, watch where you’re laying the boards. It’s common for people to trip or get poked with nails because they’re careless with their demolition process. It’s easiest to use the reciprocating saw to cut through the nails or screws holding the studs to the floor, then lift them up, and the studs pop right off the top of the wall.
7. Once the studs are out of the wall, it’s time to address the top plate and the bottom plate, which can be removed with a pry bar and hammer.
