I have purchased an older home, a small bungalow. I want to take out most of the wall between the living room and kitchen, and have been told it is not a load bearing wall, and that the four outer walls of the building actually support the building. It is only 850 square feet so this may be true. However it is a plaster wall. Is there any special way to remove a plaster wall and are there things I should watch for?
Answer:
To start with, plaster has asbestos in it and that means its a carcenogen which will have to be handled by people qualified to do so. The other thing is that although it may not be a load bearing wall, the house has settled into a given cofiguration so if you move things about, you should expect to have quite of plaster repairs to do afterward.
Courtesy of Ren Molnar, Construction Consultant at HomeFocus.com. I can also be reached at (613) 748-3003 and Home Focus phone-in is broadcast live 8 to 10 A.M. (Ottawa, Ont. time) on Saturdays on www.cfra.com.
