We just purchased this 1950’s home. There was an addition made and I guess the pillars are for support. Would love to remove them or at least some, since there are so many. Any ideas on where to start or how to make them look less bulky?
Our facebook group were excited to share their ideas.
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- “There’s a very good chance those pillars are hollow, or just fake pillar over actual supports. In that case, it might just be exposed lumber inside, which you could wrap in something else.”
- “A building engineer can calculate the length, weight and size of I beam that can be constructed, eliminating the crowd in the middle. But those coiffured ceilings are also very 80’s and unnecessary. The house is beautiful, if you can not get rid of the round columns due to cost etc, at least square and cover them with dark wood..”
- “Do you have blueprints for the house and addition? If not, you need to open up the ceiling to determine how it’s constructed, and whether those columns are load bearing. If they’re not, you can just get rid of them. If they are (I suspect at least some of them are), you’ll need to hire a structural engineer to determine whether they can be removed, and design a new support system for you. would put a fixed window on top with awning windows beneath.”
- “My guess is they removed a load bearing wall to add the addition and put those in for support. I would open one up and see what’s under it. You could remove the colonial column look and add sleek square boxes around them making them look more modern!”
- “I’m guessing the whole addition was a patio, with the columns replacing a wall of glass sliders, as evidenced by the duct/vent system that would have lined the top of windows or a wall. Is it possible the ‘coiffured ceilings’ were actually open to the sky between the patio beams? That is all unused space, bring those windows/sliders back in where they belong and create a fabulous outdoor living situation“
- “We had a situation where the support columns had been removed in the center of the house to open up the area, in a 1965 single story in CA (the ceiling had already sunk by over 2″). The beams alone cost $20K. Just to give you an idea. It’s not cheap. One was 21 ft. the other was 8 ft. long. A structural engineer specified them. But it was worth every penny.”
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