Living Room Remodeling, Starting With the Wall You Want Gone
The usual living room complaint is that it’s walled off from everything else, a formal room by the front door that nobody sits in. Opening it up is a structural job first, and the flooring, lighting and air conditioning questions follow right behind.
Veteran BuiltCypress, Texas
Many Greater Houston homes built in the 1990s and 2000s have a formal living room at the front and a family room at the back, separated by a wall, a hallway or a half wall with columns. Opening the living room to the kitchen, dining room or entry is one of the most common remodel requests in subdivisions of that age. Whether the wall can go depends on what sits on it. In a one-story house, a wall running across the ceiling joists often supports them, and in a two-story it may carry the floor above.
Bearing walls come out with a beam sized by an engineer, posts carried down to the slab, and a permit. The beam can hang below the ceiling, which is simpler, or sit flush, which takes more labor and reworked joists. Walls also hide things: a return air duct, a plumbing vent from a bathroom upstairs, wiring for the switches on either side. We cut a small inspection hole or check from the attic so the price includes rerouting instead of discovering it halfway through.
Taking out a wall leaves a strip of bare slab or mismatched flooring where it stood, so a living room remodel usually means continuous new flooring through the opened space. The ceiling gets patched, and often the texture gets redone across the whole ceiling so the patch disappears. Lighting changes too: a formal room with one switched outlet becomes part of a bigger space that needs recessed cans on a plan and switches at each entry. The supply register and return may need to move so the larger room cools evenly in August.
Houston houses have their own habits. Slab foundations that move a little with the clay, plumbing under that slab, attics that hit 140 degrees in August, and humidity that punishes anything not sealed right. A good remodel plans around those, and many neighborhoods add an HOA review to the schedule.
If the wall stays and you only want new floors, paint and lighting, that’s a renovation and a lot less work.
When living room remodeling makes sense
How we decide, written down so you can hold us to it.
- The front living room goes unused because it’s closed off from where the family actually spends time.
- You want to open the living room to the kitchen or dining room and the wall between them is in the way.
- The room is dark and boxed in, and paint alone won’t change its shape.
And when it does not
- If the wall holds plumbing for an upstairs bathroom, moving it gets expensive, and we may suggest a wide cased opening through part of the wall instead.
- If you might want the living room as an office someday, think twice before removing its walls, because putting a closed room back costs more than leaving one.
How we run it
- I
Check the wall
From the attic and a small inspection hole, we find out what the wall carries and what runs through it.
- II
Engineering and permit
Beam size and post locations come from an engineer when the wall bears load, and the permit goes in with that drawing.
- III
Remove and support
Temporary shoring goes up, the wall comes out, the beam and posts go in, and anything inside the wall gets rerouted.
- IV
Floor, ceiling, light
Continuous flooring, ceiling patch and texture, new lighting and paint finish the larger room as one space.
What we ask before we price it
- Which rooms are involved, and do you want any walls or fixtures moved?
- How old is the house, and has it had water or foundation trouble?
- Will you be living in the house during the work?
- Does the HOA review interior or exterior changes?
- Is anyone in the house sensitive to dust or noise during the day?
Can you remove the wall between my living room and kitchen?
Usually. We check what it carries and what’s inside it. If it bears load, it comes out with a beam and posts sized by an engineer, under a permit.
Will I see a line in the floor where the wall used to be?
Not if the flooring is replaced through the opened space, which is how we plan it. Patching old flooring to match rarely looks right.
Do I need an engineer for a wall removal?
For a bearing wall, yes, to size the beam and the posts. For a non-bearing wall, no, but we confirm it’s non-bearing before we cut.
Can the beam be hidden in the ceiling?
Often, with a flush beam and reworked joists. It takes more labor than a beam that hangs below. The engineer and the joist direction decide if it’s possible.
Will opening the room change heating and cooling?
It can. A bigger space may need a register moved or added, and a return that lived in the removed wall has to go somewhere. We plan that together with the wall.
Can I finance a living room remodel?
Yes, through Acorn Finance. Military members and first responders also get 10% off.
Who you are hiring
We are a service-disabled veteran-owned company based in Cypress, verified by the Texas Veterans Commission. The person who writes your scope is the person you call if something is not right.
Google reviewers have given us 5.0 across 19 reviews, and the word that keeps coming up is honest. We would rather talk you out of a job than sell you one you do not need.
Military families and first responders take 10% off, and financing is available through Acorn Finance with a no-obligation prequalification. Ask about either when you call.