Ask David

QUESTION: We have an average size ranch house on a nice lot in a desirable town. We are bursting at the seams, and wondering whether it's worth it to try to expand this house. The ceilings are quite low, and the windows all need replacing. Is it worth it? What factors should we consider?

ANSWER: It's always worth it to investigate whether you could buy a different house that has most of what you're looking for, before you sink a lot of time, money, and effort into a renovation. Of course, you're familiar with your existing neighborhood, and will face some uncertainty with a move. Usually, the issue of build vs move comes down to a combination of your attachment to the existing property, the economics of your equity and renovation costs, and time frame you have. If you need the space immediately, it might be better to move, since construction will take some time. On the other hand, often the house you would like to buy is not on the market when you are looking, which prompts many people to renovate, rather than wait an indeterminate time for a desirable house to enter the market.

Regarding the specifics of a ranch renovation, I would consider the following:

• Will you expand up, out, or both?
• If you add a second floor, should you add just bedrooms and baths and keep the living space on the first floor?
• If you contemplate significant renovation, would it be more cost-effective to tear down and rebuild?
• Is the existing structure adequate to support a second floor?
• Where will the stairway be located, and should you redesign the front entrance?

If you are dissatisfied with the existing floor plan, want to replace most of the doors and windows, and dislike the low ceilings, then it's probably more cost-effective to tear the house down to the existing first floor frame, and rebuild from there. That way you can relocate the doors and windows and get higher ceilings on the first floor. Homeowners sometimes overvalue the existing structure, and don't realize that much of it will need to be demolished in the course of the renovation.

QUESTION: We would like to add a bath on our third floor. Does it need to be located directly above the second floor bath?

ANSWER: No, because you typically can't use the existing plumbing anyway. Also, most plumbers don't want to tie into old pipes, because they can warranty the condition of them. You are free to locate the bath wherever you would like on the third floor, but you will need to find a way to get the soil pipe (a 4" pipe) down through the second and first floors into the basement.

QUESTION: When we renovated our kitchen, we removed a wall that separated it from the dining room. The builder said it was not a bearing wall, and could be removed. Now it looks to us like the floor above is sagging. How can we tell if it was a bearing wall, and what would make the floor sag if it wasn't?

ANSWER: Bearing walls are those walls that carry weight from one point to another. The outside walls of a house are bearing, because the roof rests on them. Interior walls are divided into two types: bearing, and partition. A partition wall separates rooms but does not carry weight from above.

Interior bearing walls are usually carrying the weight of a floor, rather than a roof. There are a few ways to determine if a wall is bearing. In houses that have a stairway in a main hallway, typically both hall walls are bearing. If your basement is unfinished, you will usually see a beam that runs perpendicular to the floor joists that rest on it. This beam is usually supported by steel columns or brick posts. Typically, the bearing walls will all line up (more or less) with that beam (or beams).

Another quick way to check is to look at the direction of the wood flooring. In older homes (pre-war), the flooring usually runs parallel to the floor joists, and therefore perpendicular to the bearing walls.

With regards to what caused the sag if the wall wasn't bearing (and the builder would probably know), there are a few possibilities. The first is that the sag was always there, but you never noticed it before. The second is you may be imagining it because you're worried that you've damaged your house by taking the wall out. But the real reason probably is that even though the wall wasn't technically bearing, it was providing some support for the floor. Most floors in older homes sag a little except where there is a wall to support them. So by removing the wall you've allowed that section of floor to sag as much as the rest of the floor in that room. The best advice is to keep an eye on it by measuring against something that's not moving, like the ceiling. If it gets worse, have an architect or engineer look at it.