Where's the beam?

[phrankbooth]

Hello,

I have a kithchen with an 8 ft. original ceiling. There was an addition made at some point adjacent to the kitchen but the ceiling of the addition is about a foot lower, although there is an old ceiling above that that looks like it was also 8ft.

I'd like to remove about a 3.5 ft piece of wall between the kitchen and this addition to open things up.

Is it a safe bet that the actual supporting beam is where the wall meets the original 8ft ceiling and not where the lower ceiling is and I can therefore remove this piece of wall without having to put in a supporting beam in this supporting wall?

Any thoughts, comments and/or advice appreciated greatly.

Thanks,

--PhB

[Colbyt]

I don't want to rain on your parade but;

There are no safe bets without a detailed examination by someone who knows the difference between load bearing and non-load bearing.

Some of us might be willing to venture an opinion with more information but an onsite inspection is the preferred method.

Colbyt

[RicodJour]

Don't gamble with structures. Don't make guesses. Poke some holes to find out exactly what you're dealing with.

R

[marson]

this is impossible to answer without seeing it. not sure why there would be any supporting "beam"..wouldn't it just be ceiling joists nailed to a ledger? a 3.5' span is no big deal, provided there are not tons of weight being supported etc. my approach would be to take it apart, run to the lumberyard to get whatever headers i needed (can't see it from here but you could probably bury it in the ceiling framing) and frame it according to the conditions i uncovered.

one question i would have is whether the two ceiling planes line up. in the best of circumstances, getting an addition ceiling to line up perfectly with an old existing ceiling is a challenge. doubt if the paid that much attention if they were in different rooms.

good luck.