Today I am sharing why knocked down an interior wall at the lake house which ended up being the best decision ever! The interior wall was not a load bearing wall and it was not providing any function other than a tiny dark hallway that led to a dark bedroom. Knocking down the interior wall allowed us to gain natural light into the bedroom, add a new side entry door and open up the living room space by eliminating the small hallway.
Here is a picture of the lake house wall (behind the couch) that we removed.
Here is another view from the entrance below. It’s not the best quality picture but I can’t seem to find my pictures from last year showing this wall.
How to remove an interior wall
- The first step to removing a wall is to determine whether the wall is a load bearing wall or a non load bearing wall. Thankfully in this case, the interior wall was not load bearing. It’s much cheaper to remove a partition wall than a load bearing wall. If you want to see a load bearing wall being removed, click through this post, knocking a wall down in the kitchen to see the process at the split level remodel project.
- Have a professional remove and/or relocate any electrical wiring or piping inside the wall
- In our case, we dismantled the wood planks on the wall with a hammer and sawzall.
The image below shows the partition wall we removed and the dark narrow hallway leading to a bedroom.
The living room and kitchen was originally open and already had great natural light but the wall behind the couch area, had a tiny hallway that separated the bathroom and bedroom from the living room area.
We originally did not plan on removing the interior wall but after a month or so living in the space on weekends, we decided that the house needed another exit and a new side doorway made sense.
In order to install a new entryway, we needed to steal some space from the bedroom and remove the interior wall.
Knocking a Wall Down Between Two Rooms
Jim and his guys worked from each side of the wall between the two rooms removing the wood planks that created the interior wall.
The wall actually came down very easily and because it was not drywall, it was fairly clean! If you know anything about drywall, it’s dusty and very dirty during a demolition.
The image below that we made a new bedroom wall with 2×4’s and sheetrock (see white wall below). We saved the old wall planks to install on the new bedroom wall so that the new wall coordinates with the rest of the house design.
The above image also shows the new kitchen layout and new kitchen cabinet wall. If you missed the kitchen before and after, click through this post budget kitchen remodel at lake house. It’s a great post showing how to remodel a kitchen on a strict budget.
How much does it cost to knock down an interior wall?
Is it expensive to knock down an interior wall? The cost associated with knocking down an interior wall that is not a load bearing wall is fairly simple and affordable.
Depending on the size of the wall and a handful of other variables (ie. relocating wires, plumbing ect), the rough cost to knock down an interior wall (that is not load bearing) is $500-$2500.
This particular wall involved 3 guys labor cost during the demo portion of the project. Once the wall is removed, there will be additional cost associated with finishing the exposed wall space as well.
This interior wall was not a normal interior wall with a 2×4 frame underneath drywall.
The interior wall was constructed of cedar planks that literally were tongue and groove.
You could actually move the wall in some spots with your hand. It was essentially a “makeshift” partition wall.
FAQ – Removing A Wall
Determining what type of wall you have is imperative before you start any demo project. If your wall is a load bearing wall, meaning it supports the structure above, you will need to hire a general contractor and an engineer to have a load bearing support beam constructed and installed. You will also need to check with your local building department regarding permitting guidelines. Click through our removing a load bearing kitchen wall post for more information.
You should hire a licensed general contractor and if you live in the central Massachusetts area, you can hire Jim! 
Yes, you can remove a wall with electrical wires but you will need to hire a professional to relocate them (you don’t want to shock yourself or worse, cause a fire!) and check with your local building department for permit requirements. Some towns require permits and some do not.
Knocking Down A Wall Before & After
Here is a sneak peek of the living room and kitchen space along with the entire interior painted white! Knocking down the interior wall created a larger living space and created the modern open concept look we wanted.
We had no intentions of painting the interior white as the cost and time involved seemed overwhelming. As I was searching google and pinterest for updated modern lake homes, I kept showing Jim pictures of white modern cottage interiors and while I really didn’t think we would bite the bullet (I was honestly dreaming that maybe someday we would) and paint the interior white.
Without me knowing, he secretly painted the entire inside white and when I showed up one Friday afternoon I almost fell over when I walked inside with excitement :). I couldn’t believe how amazing it looked and I was so surprised! Jimbo pulled off the best before and after ever!
Here is the living room before we knocked down the interior wall.
Here is the living room after we removed the wall. The bathroom, loft and bedroom (that were behind the old wall) are not open to the living room and kitchen area.
Knocking down the interior wall opened up the living room and provided a larger open concept living space.
Here is the before picture again.
By knocking down the interior wall, the loft space opening was now exposed. The loft was exposed before but hidden behind the wall we tore down. If you look closely you can see a ladder with carpet attached to the wall. The view from that cute little space of the lake is amazing now that the wall is gone!
The loft space is something we are working on for my son. We need to figure out a ladder that attaches to the wall for easy access and we will have two twin floor mattresses on either side of the opening. It will be super cute when it’s done!
This image above shows the view from the kitchen as well as the new flooring we installed. I will share the flooring post soon!
We also decided to the leave the ceiling beams the existing cedar color as the contrast with the white is beautiful.
If you look to the far left corner, that is where the new side entrance door will be installed and you can see the two new windows near the stairway to the lower level.
We did lose some square feet in the bedroom which originally was large enough for a queen bed but we opted to turn that bedroom into a bunk room which is perfect for kids or honestly, even adults! I have slept in the bunk room and it’s super cute and comfortable :).
Stay tuned, I will be sharing the new interior and exterior door installation, the three bedroom makeovers and 2 bathroom remodels soon!
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