Hi there,

I am not in NJ but am a licensed civil engineer in CA. Do you mean you want to knock out the wall to the left of the door on the right? What I'm getting at is, what is the final "clear span" you are trying to achieve? If it is the wall I am thinking of, your clear span is going to be that wall plus the width of the door.

The building code your state adopted includes span tables which basically allows anyone to lookup what type of lumber they need to support a span of up to about 6 feet without having to perform a structural analysis. They include a great deal of assumptions, and are generally conservative enough for typical applications. That's why GC's can frame doorways and such without needing a civil engineer's stamp. Once you start going beyond "typical" spans, the amount of assumptions you have to include to provide a safe "estimate" would generally be too cost prohibitive and inaccurate.

Having said that, the width of the wall plus the door should most certainly put you over 6 feet and you would need an engineer to spend a small amount of time looking at the wall to confirm a few things, and some quick calcs to give you the building requirements you need. In the case of any kind of remodeling project, personally I would always recommend an engineer come out anyway to confirm assumptions and make sure the GC follows not just span requirements, but proper connection details of the wood members.

Talk with your local division of inspection, please.

The structural beam I designed, built, and installed in my father-in-law's kitchen was approved at first inspection with no engineer's stamp.

Depends on the load carried above. Depends on the support for the point loads under the ends of the required beam. If the load above doesn’t involve possible snow loading, live loading, and it’s a small span that can use the tables, sure, a contractor can easily use the span tables.

But you have a second floor, possible snow loading, and unknown point supports below the wall in the basenent or crawl. Those unknowns would have to be known first. Then, maybe.

"you don't need a structural engineer to remove a load-bearing wall that is shorter than 6 feet"

I cannot see the length being the determining factor alone. As stated above check with the building dept yourself first for their requirements.

As stated above there are many load bearing walls we can alter without an engineer, and sometimes we can use the weyerhouser engineer which they provide at no cost. There also many situations where we cannot as Sophie stated above, and there would be no way for us to tell from one photo. Simple 6' opening seems easy enough without complicating factors.

Put a sweet steel I-beam or LVLs in there, properly supported on both ends.

The first step I'd take is to bring your plan to the local AHJ and find out what you will need to get the permit approved and get a final sign off. We took out a load bearing wall and replaced it with a double LVL beam supported by columns. All the columns sat right on top of a steel beam in the basement, with steel columns, and the span was well within the manufacturer specs.

However, when I went for my permit the city "engineer" told me I could either show him the math and specs to verify the beam was good enough, or I could get a structural engineer to sign off on the plan. I decided to just pay for the engineer.

When the professional engineer showed up I had to explain the blueprints to him (based on his puzzled look), and then show him how the load transferred to the steel beam in the basement. When he signed off I wasn't sure if he really understood the construction, or just wanted to get out of there and get his money. However, his signature made the city happy.

Bruce

A licensed engineer's stamp assumes full responsibility for the design and consequences thereof for a period long after you've moved out. There are many times I have been paid for the same services you described Bruce and I had the same puzzled reaction. In every one of my cases the design was way overkill and far more expensive of a solution than it needed to be. But I was not being paid to develop a low cost safe solution, the client just wanted my stamp so I was more than happy to provide it. Not saying that was your case Bruce, but just my experience.

Your local building department will almost certainly require this to be addressed to obtain a permit, and an inspection will likely be needed, whether it’s a minor engineering effort or just following code load tables.

You need to also determine who is responsible for securing your building permit (all permits really) - you or your contractor. Whoever will be submitting for the permit will need to provide the necessary design info, sketches, whatever.