The wall you want to remove
Most interior walls in a Bay Area house are not decorative. In a single storey house with a cut roof, an interior wall is often carrying the ceiling joists and half the roof. In a two storey house it may be carrying the floor above and bracing the whole box.
Removing it is straightforward once it is designed. The beam is sized for the load it picks up. The posts carry that load to footings that are big enough for it, which usually means new concrete under the floor. And the bracing the wall was quietly providing has to be replaced somewhere the new plan can still afford to put it, which is the part that changes the design.
What triggers a permit
- Anything structural, always
- Moving or adding plumbing fixtures, in most jurisdictions
- New or relocated electrical circuits
- Window and door openings changing size
- Work that changes the use of a room, for example a garage to a bedroom
Remodels includes
- Wall removals with beams, posts and footings
- Kitchen and bath layouts that the plumbing can actually serve
- Permit sets for work that needs one
- Legalising earlier work found during the remodel
Other services
Example projects
What this looks like as a project.
Already have drawings?
Upload your plans and find the problems before the city does.
We read your set against 35 written checks and tell you what a reviewer is going to raise, with the code section behind each one. It does not matter who drew it.