"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
news
zephyr wrote:
Hey all,

I have a kitchen and living room separated by a load bearing wall
that has 3 ducts and 1 cold air return running thru it.
I'd like to remove the wall and put in a beam. The new beam and the
wall removal I can deal with, but,
moving duct work is going to be a new challenge.


Pardon me for asking, but I am only trying to keep someone out of
trouble and I don't know your qualifications.

You seem unsure of moving ducts, but feel good about removing a load
bearing wall. Do you have experience as an engineer? Guessing on this
job is not a good thing.

I am not sure what others will recommend here, but I suggest employing
a HVAC professional that will do the math for you and make sure your ducts
as planed and air handling capacity you have will handle it. No getting
it right now, can be very expensive later to correct. Almost as expensive
as the damage caused by making a mistake on the load bearing wall.


Gentlemen,

I appreciate your concearn for my safety and well being,
I do not have experience as an engineer, however, I do have a good friend
who is an architect and he should be able to come up with the correct size
beam for me.
I do have experience as a framer, so, the wall portion of the job is not
going to be difficult. (just plain old hard work)
however, I'd love to know if I should over size the extension to the trunk
line, or not in order to get sufficient air to the upstairs bedroom.


For those interested in the bearing wall part of my project, it is an 11
foot wall with a doorway currently in at the south end of the wall (wall
runs n/s) , I want to expand the "doorway" to be 8+ feet wide.
regardless I will be pulling permits, so whatever mistakes I make *should*
be caught by an experienced pro. I'm just hoping to skip having to redo /
repair any work.


Dave





--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit