Steve Barker LT wrote:
You are correct. No permit. I'm not building, I'm remodeling. No permit
required to do what I please in my own house. Thanks for your useless
reply. And BTW, yes the house is insured.

Steve, if you want people to be a cheering section for you, well,
asking structural questions on a construction newsgroup is not the way
to go, particularly if you're not prepared to listen. You have not
received a single useless reply yet.

As far as it being your house - no mortgage? The mortgage holder would
be extremely upset to find out that you've made major structural
modifications without pulling a permit. But even with no mortgage, you
should be concerned as least as much as a bank would about not cutting
corners on your own home.

I took the opportunity to cross post this reply. Since you've asked
this question on both groups without crossposting (cross posting is not
always a bad thing - it's bad only when it's to non-related groups),
you are not allowing people to see the replies you've received and
given. Partial information won't help your cause.

Remodeling _is_ building. If you modify the structure of your house
you are required to pull a permit. Other factors will trigger the need
for a permit, but a structural modification always requires a permit.

If you were in an area that didn't require permits - which, from your
reply, you're not - you'd still be foolish to skip out on an engineer's
review. Your picture shows more information, but still lacks critical
information. Which way does the ceiling framing run? What are the
required design loads? Are you in an earthquake or high wind zone? I
could keep asking questions, but hopefully you've caught my drift.
Only someone who has seen your house, inspected the current situation,
and is familiar with you local code and area can design you a solution.

Beginners often mistake the strength of the beam as being the only
factor in removing a wall. It's not - not by a long shot. The bearing
area of the supports, designing connections to transmit loads other
than gravity, adequacy of foundation supports, etc., are all critical.
Simply picking a beam that can support a specific load is just a start.

You may have overestimated the cost and underestimated the value of an
engineer in you situation? Have you called around to get an idea of
the cost?

R