Load bearing walls in Colleyville’s larger homes

Colleyville is a city of large single-family homes, many with four or more bedrooms. Size doesn’t guarantee an open layout. Plenty of Colleyville houses were designed around formal rooms, a separate study and a kitchen closed off from the family room, and the walls that create those rooms are often the ones holding up the roof or the floor above.

Longer spans need bigger beams

In a big house, the wall you want gone can be long. The longer the opening, the deeper or stronger the beam has to be. Depending on the span and the load, the engineer may call for engineered lumber or a steel beam, with posts sized to carry the load down to the foundation.

We plan the opening around the beam the engineer specifies, so you know before the work day whether it will sit flush in the ceiling or show below it.

Tara Plantation and Colleyville’s 1980s homes

Tara Plantation, off Cheek Sparger Road, was Colleyville’s first planned unit development and was completed in the 1980s. Homes of that period usually have a formal living and dining room up front and a kitchen that opens only to a breakfast area. Taking down the wall between the kitchen and the family room is a common goal in houses like these.

Highland Meadows and 1990s floor plans

Neighborhoods built out in the 1990s, such as Highland Meadows between Pool Road and Hall-Johnson Road, reflect the plans of that decade. Many homes from those years have taller family room ceilings and angled walls. Angled walls and changes in ceiling height make the attic framing more complex, so the engineer traces each load path before a beam is designed.

Custom estates in Montclair Parc and newer areas

Newer custom neighborhoods like Montclair Parc have very large homes, sometimes with ceilings of different heights meeting at the wall you want to remove. In a custom home, there is no standard plan to go by. We look in the attic, check the original drawings if you have them, and let the engineer size the beam for the house as it was actually built.

Two-story homes with rooms above

If a game room, bedroom or bathroom sits above the wall, the beam carries a floor, not just a ceiling. A tub full of water or a tiled shower adds weight, and the engineer accounts for it. On the first floor, that may mean a deeper beam or a dropped beam that frames the space below.

We also look at how the upstairs is laid out. A wall that lines up with a wall above usually carries more than one that sits under open floor, and the engineer follows that load all the way down.

Opening the study or formal dining room

Many Colleyville owners keep the kitchen as it is and instead open a formal dining room or a front study into the living area. These walls are sometimes load bearing and sometimes not. We tell you which before you get a price, and a wall that carries no load is simpler to remove.

Permits for structural work in Colleyville

Structural changes like this need a permit in Colleyville. We file it with the engineer’s plan, schedule the inspection after the beam is set and close the permit out, so the change is on record when you sell.

HOA rules in planned neighborhoods

If your Colleyville neighborhood has a homeowners association, interior wall removal rarely needs its approval. Work you can see from outside, such as removing porch columns or changing a garage, often does. We provide drawings and a description of the finished look for the association’s review.

Patio and porch columns

Many larger homes have a covered patio, and a post in the middle of it can block the view of the yard or the pool. Replacing that post with a longer beam opens the space for furniture and outdoor cooking. The engineer checks how the patio roof ties into the house before we plan the work.

Garage and home extensions

On larger lots, some homeowners want to extend a garage or push a room out. The wall between the old and the new space usually becomes a beam opening, and the engineer designs it as part of the same plan, so the extension and the opening are permitted together.

Foundations under the new posts

Most homes in this area sit on concrete slabs over North Texas clay, which moves with the seasons. When a wall comes out, its load is concentrated at the beam’s posts. If the slab under a post isn’t thick enough for that load, the engineer calls for a footing, and we pour it before setting the beam.

What affects your price

Your written price covers the engineering, the Colleyville permit, the beam and posts, shoring and the patch to the ceiling, walls and floor. Long spans, steel beams, rooms above the wall, and plumbing or ductwork that needs rerouting put a project at the higher end. Nothing starts until you approve the price.

Timing

Most walls come out in one day of work. A long steel beam or a new footing can add a step. Engineering and the permit happen first and set the overall schedule, and we give you the work date once the permit is issued.

Living at home during the work

You don’t need to move out. We seal the work area with plastic, cover the floors from the door to the opening and keep a clear path through the house. At the end of each day, we clean up.

If you have pets, plan to keep them out of the work area for the day. The temporary walls stay up until the beam is carrying the load.

Switches, outlets and lighting

When a wall comes out, the switches and outlets that were on it need a new home. We plan where they go before the work day, so the controls for the kitchen and family room end up somewhere that makes sense in the new, larger room.

Questions Colleyville homeowners ask

Will the new beam match my ceiling height? In many cases, yes, with a flush beam. When the span or the load is too big for that, a dropped beam is the alternative, and we’ll show you how it would look.

Can a wall that isn’t load bearing come out faster? Yes. If the engineer confirms the wall carries no load, there is no beam to set, and the job is simpler.

Do you work on custom homes? Yes. Custom homes take more attic investigation up front, and that is part of the free estimate.

Warranty and engineering

A licensed engineer designs and signs off on every beam. Every job comes with a 12-year written warranty that transfers to the next owner, and we are insured for structural work.

Book your estimate in Colleyville

Call or text (469) 436-5680 with photos of the wall and the attic above it, or book a free on-site estimate. We work throughout Colleyville, from Tara Plantation to the neighborhoods along Colleyville Boulevard, and in nearby Grapevine, Southlake, Keller and Bedford.