Windows on top of interior walls how to#
Windows on top of interior walls full#

There are a lot of factors that go in to bearing strength: This will depend on the bearing strength of the wall. The trick is figuring out how big the support needs to be for what youвЂ™re removing. While it is possible to remove a load bearing wall entirely, the catch is it must be replaced with a big enough beam to support the load.

You have to modify the wall so that it can support the same load once youвЂ™re done.

You have to provide temporary support for the load while you are modifying the structural wall.

Windows on top of interior walls full#

If your wall isnвЂ™t structural, you have a lot more options, but if it needs to hold up a bathtub full of water, a wall of bookcases, the rest of the second floor plus the roof, then your project is more complex.

Windows on top of interior walls how to#

Your options will depend a lot on whether your wall is load bearing or not (read my post on how to tell structural from non-structural walls here). You may be considering taking out an entire wall, creating a large pass through to a kitchen, or just a simple window that will let some light through. How framing works in a window to transfer the load. The header takes the force coming from above, and transfers it laterally to the nearest vertical supports, and then down. The additional reinforcement will take the form of a horizontal support at the top of the opening called a header or lintel. If you think of a table, you can support it using four thin legs at the sides or one thick post in the middle вЂ“ this is the same basic idea. The basic principle when modifying a structural wall is to rebuild what remains so that it can still hold the same load, i.e. I was lucky вЂ“ I have people with experience on my side: my Dad and my husband. This article will provide a general guide to major steps youвЂ™ll take if you want to create an interior window of your own.ДЄt first I was really intimidated by the idea of cutting a hole in a wall that holds the rest of the house up, and I would definitely recommend you consult a building engineer if you are not 100% sure what to do or that itвЂ™s going to work. Interior openings can also create a sense of connectedness and flow, uniting spaces within a house. Since the International Style was born in the 1920s, architecture has become more and more about bringing daylight into home interiors, and in my own humble way I try to embrace this philosophy. Our renovation ideas have been united by a common theme: light вЂ“ adding more of it and making the most of the daylight that does manage to come in.

DonвЂ™t get me wrong, there are advantages вЂ“ but lots of natural light is definitely not one of them. Our house is basically a glorified cave: itвЂ™s a townhouse with neighbours on three of four sides. There are a lot of creative uses for interior windows, like the glass brick light window in this elegant example.