Header or not

[stevedam850]

My wife has this crazy idea to remove a door and wall to open up our space a bit more. The first picture is the old room the door and the wall to the right is what we want to remove.
the 2nd picture is the room we are renovating. We would remove the 2 studs to the left. We plan on keeping everything from the top of the door up. In the other room the top of the door is the ceiling of that room.
What do you all suggest? Is it possible or should we get somebody in to look at a possible load bearing issue.

 

[Snoonyb]

You'll need to support the low ceiling prior to tromping the wall and installing a header, and if you are a novice, hire someone.

 

[Bob Reynolds]

You have some issues here.

1. There is no header over the current door. This does not appear to be a professional job.

2. The top plate appears to be supporting the ceiling rafters in your finished area.

If that wall is removed then it would require a beam to support the load above. The problem is that you don't appear to have the headroom for the beam.

You best bet is to get a licensed contractor in that knows what they are doing and explain what you are trying to accomplish. That way you will have your options.

 

[joecaption]

I'm not seeing anything in those pictures that was done right!

 

[stevedam850]

It’s scary how bad it was done.
the wall to the left has a rotten stud from the outside and I can push on the drywall and it bounces back and forth. More work that needs to get done.
tome for a professional.

 

[zannej]

I was going to suggest a stud hanger (simpson strongtie makes some) but I don't know in this situation.

 

[MrMiz]

good news is that it's "do-able"
bad news is that there is a lot of detail to consider. Since it appears to be under load (I'm assuming the ceiling in the other room isn't just dropped for convenience) it's probably a good idea to get somebody to calculate the loads and figure out the correct baring points. IE is there support down through the floor below to hold 2 new points. Your "pillars" have to land on something under the subfloor that can support the load. Since we can't see any of that I would think getting somebody on site to either show you those points or draw it out for you. Once you know the plan you might have a better picture of if you can do it yourself or not. For example. When I did something a lot like this I had to take my load point all the way down through the floor, through the crawlspace to a concrete pad/pillar to support the roof load above. I had to crawl on my hands and knees in the crawlspace and "pour" the new concrete pad. This kind of detail maybe a major influencer in your decision and you might want to just hand the drawing over to a professional and let them execute the plan. It might also help you address the current problems that most of us here suspect you could have with that wall already or even give you a way to put the breaks on this project and decide to put the money and time somewhere else.

 

[Sparky617]

Where is this hot mess? Is this in the basement? Are the joists running parallel or perpendicular to the wall? What is above this space, another living level or attic space. If attic is the structure trusses or rafter & joists?