Caghca2010
Member
I am wanting to open up a wall on a balloon framed 2 story home. The opening is the houses original exterior wall, before an addition. The wall runs parallel with the joists. My problem is, there is a perpendicular wall that would shorten the whaler support. My question is, could I use the upper joist for whaler support? Or should I do the whaler support on the second floor. Also, doing the support on the second level would make it so the opening is higher, correct? I am wanting to open up from the perpendicular wall all the way to the right. About 7.5 ft. Attached sketchup picture is what it looks like now with the upper 2x10 being the joist, and what I started to play around with the whaler support. Should I stick with the support as is now and just have a thinner opening, or would it be safe to use the joist for the whaler support, or safe to make the support on the second floor? In the picture I took, it seems the joists are perpendicular, they are not. That was someone too lazy to remove previous ceiling and instead built up new support for wood paneling. Also, as of now there is no header for the existing door, anyone have any comments on that?