Removing a Kitchen Wall in Massachusetts: What to Check

Short answer: find out what the wall is carrying and what runs through it before you plan anything else. If it may be load-bearing, have a structural engineer look at it. In Massachusetts, cutting away a substantial part of a wall, or removing a structural beam or load-bearing support, needs a building permit. Plumbing, gas and electrical changes inside the wall have their own permits.

Is the wall load-bearing?

You can often spot clues yourself, but clues are not an answer.

Which way the floor joists run. Look in the basement or attic. A wall running across the joists, especially near the middle of the span, is more likely to carry load than one running alongside them.
What sits above it. A wall directly under another wall, or under a post, deserves extra suspicion.
What sits below it. A beam, a post or a foundation wall under the same line is another clue.

Older homes can be harder to read. Past renovations may have moved loads around, and what you see from the basement may not match what is hidden upstairs. Treat every clue as a reason to ask, and have a structural engineer confirm it before anyone cuts.

What replaces a load-bearing wall

The load does not go away when the wall does. A beam takes over what the wall carried, and the load has to travel down through posts to something solid. So the questions go beyond the beam itself:

What size and type of beam does the span need?
Where will the posts land, and what is underneath them?
Can the beam sit up inside the ceiling, or will it hang below it? This decides how the finished room looks, so settle it before cabinets and lighting are planned.
How will the structure be held up while the wall is out?

These are design questions for the engineer, and the answers belong on the drawings.

What is inside the wall

Kitchen walls are often busy. Before demolition, find out whether yours holds:

A plumbing vent or drain
Water or gas lines
Ducts or returns
Wiring, switches and outlets

Some of these are easy to reroute, and some change the plan. Opening a small inspection area can answer the question early. Work on these systems belongs with licensed tradespeople, under their own permits where required.

When Massachusetts requires a permit

The Massachusetts residential code lists work that needs a permit, including “the substantial cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or load bearing support,” among other work. (780 CMR R105.2.2)

The trades are separate:

Plumbing and gas: work cannot be installed, altered or removed until the inspector issues a permit. (248 CMR 3.05)
Electrical: permits go through the local Inspector of Wires. (527 CMR 12.00)

For the wider picture, see What Needs a Permit for a Remodel in Massachusetts.

Do you need stamped drawings?

It depends on where you live and what the building official asks for. The state code says construction documents must be prepared by a registered design professional when the law requires it, and the building official can ask for them in special circumstances. (780 CMR R107.1)

Local permit processes vary. Boston, for example, has a Long-Form permit for major alterations that change a building’s structure or use; its required documents include design plans stamped by a Massachusetts registered engineer or architect and a certified plot plan. Boston also has a Short-Form permit for minor work, and the city’s Inspectional Services decides which one fits, so ask your own building department before you assume either way.

Who can pull the permit?

It depends on who is doing the work. In Boston’s Long-Form process, owners of owner-occupied one- and two-family homes doing their own work can apply. When a contractor does the work, the applicant must be that contractor.

If a contractor suggests you pull the permit in your own name, ask what that changes: in Boston, the contractor doing the work is the applicant. Massachusetts also requires a licensed construction supervisor for most of this kind of work, with an exception for owner-occupants doing work on their own home. If you hire people to do the work under that exception, you take on the supervisor’s role yourself. (780 CMR 110.R5.1)

The usual order of work

Investigate the wall, above and below it.
Get engineering and drawings if the job needs them.
Plan the kitchen around the new opening, including lighting, cabinets and the floor.
Pull the permits.
Protect the rest of the house and seal off the work area.
Put temporary support in place if the wall is structural.
Remove the wall.
Install the beam and posts.
Rough in plumbing, gas, electrical and ducts.
Pass the inspections your permits call for.
Close up the walls and ceiling, then finish.

Which inspections will you have?

Your building official tells you when the permit is issued, so go by the inspection points listed on your permit. The state code’s list includes a framing inspection after the plumbing, mechanical and electrical rough inspections pass, a gypsum board inspection before the joints are taped, and a final inspection. (780 CMR R110.3)

The practical point: nothing should be closed up before it has been inspected.

Things people forget to plan

The floor. Where the wall stood, there is often a gap in the flooring, and the two rooms may not match in height or direction.
The ceiling. The two rooms may not line up either, especially if a beam stays exposed.
Lost wall space. That wall may be holding cabinets, the fridge or a range. Check that the new layout still works.
Hood venting. If the layout moves the range, the duct route moves with it.

Five questions to ask a contractor

How will you confirm whether this wall is load-bearing?
If it is, who designs the beam and posts, and will I see the drawings?
Which permits does this job need, and who pulls each one?
What happens if we open the wall and find something unexpected? (See what the contract should say when walls open.)
Which inspections are on the permit, and will the work stay open until they pass?

For more on choosing someone, see Questions to Ask a Contractor Before You Hire in Massachusetts.

How we handle it

Sun Shore Construction is licensed and insured, with proof available on request. You get a written scope that lists the work before anything is signed. When the work needs a building permit, we file it. Licensed tradespeople we partner with handle the plumbing and electrical work and permits where your contract includes them.

Questions people ask

Can I just check the wall by looking at it? You can gather clues, but the decision to cut should rest on a structural engineer’s review.

Does a non-load-bearing wall still need a permit? It can. The code’s wording covers substantial cutting of any wall or partition, not just structural ones. Ask your building department, and remember that wiring or plumbing in the wall may need its own permit.

Can part of the wall stay? Often that is an option, such as a wide opening or a half wall. Whether it works depends on what the wall carries and what runs through it.

Is this different in Boston? Local departments run their own process. Boston’s Long-Form permit has its own document list, so check with the department in your town.

Thinking about opening up your kitchen?

Send us photos of the wall and the basement or ceiling below and above it, or ask for a walkthrough. See our kitchen remodeling services.