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Tear down those walls?
Tearing down the Berlin Wall was a great thing to do, but tearing down the wall between the kitchen and dining room could be a huge mistake.
Let me give you an example of a house I saw today. I'm sure all you inspectors out there have seen worse, but the family of this home I saw today had pulled the wall out between the kitchen and living room to open it up. The problem was that the wall they pulled out was clearly there for support.
The ceiling beam that went across couldn't support the weight by itself and was now sagging down about two inches now had a crack down the middle of a support beam. I truly believe if someone went in the attic to put insulation in, that that extra weight alone would be enough to have that home beam collapse in and really hurt someone.
Please, before removing any walls or doing any major remodels, contact a structural engineer and get the permits required from your city or county planner.
For more information or phone numbers for a structural engineer or the planning departments here in Oregon, please feel free to contact me anytime. 
 
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