Load Bearing Wall????

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gtpvette
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Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:28 pm

I'm looking to purchase an older mobile home and have a question regarding a wall. This is a double wide and the wall in question seperates the kitchen from the living space. It's not exactly in the center of the room as it maybe 12"-18" from it so I don't think it's a marriage wall,,,,, but I'm new to this type of construction. The goal would be to remove it or at least knock a really big hole in it to open up the space. So what do you think?

This is one view of the wall (left side of picture). If you'll notice the peak in the cealing you'll see it's set back a bit

Image

Here is the other side of the same wall (right side of picture) towards the dining room.

Image

Here is the back side where the stove and refrig are.

Image

Thanks!
Fred
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Greg
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Hi & welcome. Center walls in a double wide are load bearing walls. They can have doorways in them but you will need to do proper support with header studs and double/triple stud door frames.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
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JD
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What an unusual floor plan, well to me anyways. I have seen literally thousands of mobile homes and have never seen one laid out like this. Maybe a regional thing.

Is this the wall behind your kitchen sink? I could see a large opening with a bar counter, using the same pentagon arches in the kitchen. It would cost you some wall cabinets though. You would need to put in a header as Greg said.
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All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
gtpvette
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:28 pm

Greg wrote:Hi & welcome. Center walls in a double wide are load bearing walls. They can have doorways in them but you will need to do proper support with header studs and double/triple stud door frames.

Greg
Greg,,,
Thanks for your thoughts. I figured it was. I really want a big opening of 8' or more. Maybe I can come up with a way double or tripple studs on 8' centers. Maybe I need to crawl under it as well and see what kind of suport there is. There is gotta be a way to upen this up!!
gtpvette
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:28 pm

JD wrote:What an unusual floor plan, well to me anyways. I have seen literally thousands of mobile homes and have never seen one laid out like this. Maybe a regional thing.

Is this the wall behind your kitchen sink? I could see a large opening with a bar counter, using the same pentagon arches in the kitchen. It would cost you some wall cabinets though. You would need to put in a header as Greg said.
JD,,
Thanks for your thoughts, although it worries me you;ve never seen a floor plan like this. It's a 1982 24x48 Twin Manor and I think it was built by Homes Of Merit here in Florida. The wall in question actually is across from the sink. We were hoping we could open that wall up,,, move the appliance around a bit then have an breakfast bar with some stools on the living room side.
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Greg
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I have found that with enough Money, planning and time (Usually in that order) ANYTHING is possible!!

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
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JD
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It could be that I am just not seeing the pictures right. All of my mobile home work has been here in California, so maybe I have not seen that floor plan. I imagine there are mobile homes built in California that I have not seen too.

I do believe you could make a large opening in that wall with the proper header.
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All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
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DaveyB
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Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 5:12 am
Location: Peoria, AZ

Just because the wall is offset from the peak does not mean that it is not load bearing. Remember that the peak is the joint between the two halves of the building, and something needs to hold it up - in the case of a double-wide, each half of the building needs to move as an independent unit, and so cannot rely on the other half to support the peak. The offset could have come about by the designers wanting to give more floorspace to one room (living room) over another (kitchen).

I would plan on treating it as a load bearing wall, and do a thorough investigation of the floor supports to make sure that the relocated weight is placed evenly on the support joists, not on the flooring material between the joists. This may change the position or width of your opening slightly, but it would help to maintain the structural integrity of the home.

While searching for something else, I came across a site here that might be helpful to you!

Hope that helps!
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