This is it — wall-opening week (aka “w.o.w.”). Woot! Before demo starts, here are answers to a few questions we’ve been asked a lot:
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- How we chose a contractor
- How we handled permits
- How we determined the exact spot for the new opening (so we wouldn’t wish we’d moved it later)
First, why hire a contractor? We love DIY, but structural work isn’t the place to experiment. We’ve torn down non-load-bearing walls before (like when we created a laundry nook in our first house), but an 8-foot opening in the center of the house needed a heavy-duty, precisely placed header and shoring. That’s a job for someone with decades of experience, not just a few years of blogging. We do share our thinking about what projects to DIY and which to hire out, but for this, we wanted a pro.
To find the right contractor we:
- asked friends and family for recommendations and posted a request on Facebook
- checked websites to learn about about ten local contractors
- narrowed that list to four favorites based on websites and personal recs
- scheduled in-person estimates with all four
All four came out and provided quotes within a few days. We told them we were getting multiple bids so they’d give competitive pricing. Every estimate covered removing the 8-foot section between the dining room and kitchen, installing a support beam, adding floor support, reframing the threshold, building a short knee-wall for the peninsula, patching drywall, and installing jambs and trim on both sides.
Our four bids:
- Contractor #1: Nearly $4,000
- Contractor #2: Around $3,200
- Contractor #3: $650–$1,000 (depending on materials)
- Contractor #4: $700 if we did drywall, jambs & trim ourselves; $950 if they did it
All were licensed, insured Class A contractors with decades of experience, so the quality was expected to be high across the board. The higher bids seemed to come from contractors who typically take on large-scale projects (they even included a port-o-potty and dumpster in one quote). Before bids arrived, we already liked Contractor #3 (a father-son team who volunteers with Habitat for Humanity) and Contractor #4 (a friend-of-a-friend with 30+ years of experience).
We ultimately chose Contractor #4. Partly because we already knew him, partly because his team included a younger woman (which we loved), and partly because he was happy to let us handle the non-structural work to save money. The $700 option felt just right compared to the higher estimates.
Now, permits. From day one we assumed we’d need one, and in our area permits are only about $150 with same-day issuance. Before heading to the office we called the plan review department because all four contractors suggested talking to a plan reviewer might save us the fee. Jay, the plan reviewer, asked a few questions and explained that because our house is a one-story ranch (so that wall didn’t carry a full second-story load) and because there used to be a doorway in roughly the same spot decades ago, a permit wasn’t required. That saved time and money. Permit rules vary by location, so check with your local building department for your area’s requirements.
How did we pinpoint the opening placement? We needed to plan for building in our fridge and relocating an existing 36″ cabinet (which used to sit where the stove is now). Finding a corner cabinet at the ReStore let us visualize how everything would fit against that wall and finalize the peninsula placement.
We’re still hunting for an 18″ cabinet to complete the peninsula, but the corner cabinet was the key to determine the opening. We taped the projected edge of the 18″ cabinet on the floor and brought in four chairs to picture the seating area for a future 3′ x 5′ counter with a 12″ overhang on the two sides that will have chairs.
We made sure there would be about 4 feet of walking room beyond the stools and the peninsula. We aligned the opposite side of the opening with the beginning of the peninsula so the opening looks intentional and balanced. Aligning the 8-foot opening with the dining room’s large picture window should help the new doorway appear original to the house.
Why a half-wall instead of a full open doorway with cabinetry on the back of the peninsula? Several reasons:
- We didn’t want the peninsula to look tacked into the middle of a doorway.
- The half-wall helps ground the peninsula so it feels solid and supported rather than floating.
- We already have built-in base cabinets in the dining room, so we don’t need more storage there.
- Adding another built-in near the existing wall of built-ins would feel too cluttered.
- The half-wall makes for a cleaner, more seamless threshold; without it, there’d be an awkward strip of cork flooring between the peninsula cabinet and the dining room floor.
Here’s a Google SketchUp view of the future doorway based on our tape layout:
And the full floor plan sketch for reference:
That’s where we stand. Enough words — bring on the demo photos. If all goes to plan, we’ll share them within 48 hours. Anything big on your to-do list this week? Did anything fun this weekend? Tell $herdog all about it.
P.S. The groomsman photo in this post was taken by David Abel.