Removing a Wall to Open Up Your Living Room: What to Do Before Anyone Swings a Hammer

By Parham Shariat · October 25, 2026

Opening up a living room is one of the most popular projects we see. It is also one of the easiest to get wrong. A wall can look like a simple divider and still carry the weight of the roof, hold a plumbing stack, or hide a bundle of wires. Here is how to do it right.

Hire an engineer who comes to your home

An engineer who works only from photos and a floor plan is guessing. You want someone who walks through your house, looks at the framing above and below, and measures what is really there.

Here is a simple rule. If the engineer does not show up, do not hire them. A stamped drawing from someone who never saw your house is not worth the paper.

Open the drywall before they draw

This is the step most people skip. An engineer cannot design a beam for a wall they cannot see inside. Before any drawing is made, have the drywall opened at the wall in question, and often at the ceiling above it, so the engineer can see:

• How the framing is built and which way the joists run
• Whether posts, beams or blocking are already inside the wall
• Where plumbing, electrical, gas and ducts pass through

Opening a section of drywall costs very little. Finding all of this out after the drawings are approved can mean a new design, a new submittal to the city, and weeks of delay.

Expect more than a beam

If the wall is load bearing, the fix usually means a new beam, posts at each end, and a solid path for the weight to reach the foundation. That can mean work below the floor as well as above it. Ask the engineer to explain how the load travels down to the ground, in plain words, until you understand it.

Do not let anyone remove the wall before the permit

Structural work needs a permit and an inspection. A contractor who offers to take the wall out first and sort out the paperwork later is putting your home, and your insurance, at risk.

Have the people who will build it read the plan

Before the drawings go to the city, your framer should look at them. They know whether the beam can actually be set in your space, and whether the plan assumes something that is not true. If the framer disagrees, change the plan first. We cover this in our article on avoiding city resubmittals.