After a bunch of cleanup – mostly removing plaster from the lathe boards on interior and exterior walls …
… we began removal of the living room / bedroom partition. It was not a load bearing wall. It had no top plate, and studs were side-nailed to the ceiling boards.
So why remove the partition?
The old bedroom will become the new kitchen, and the old kitchen will become the new bedroom. The kitchen and existing living room will become one room.
- The new kitchen / bathroom load bearing partition will extend outward farther (westward), adjacent the living room / new bedroom partition.
- The LR/BR partition will also be extended another 18″ or so (eastward), leaving only one rafter tie (or ceiling joist) without support. It will also be moved to accommodate a larger living room and more evenly transfer offset loads down to existing load bearing partitions in the main floor.
- The existing stairway / new bedroom partition will eventually be moved to support this last rafter tie.
In this way, more load will be transferred from the roof to the 6×6 beams in the basement.
Of course, as things are exposed during renos, this plan will likely evolve.