WATCH ABOVE: Fresh from building his latest ‘House of Bryan’ – HGTV’s Bryan Baeumler tells us why his latest project makes sure you always measure twice.TORONTO – Disaster DIY host Bryan Baeumler has helped many do-it-yourselfers learn from the errors of their home reno wrecks. But in his new guide to avoiding DIY blunders, the contractor is casting a wider net, aimed at people wanting to take on repair work and those looking to enlist professionals.READ MORE: New season of ‘House of Bryan’ has Baeumler family ‘in the sticks’“You should understand the very basics of structure and how the house is actually held up above you … of ‘where does your water come from?’ and ‘how does the hydro get in and turn on your lightbulb?”‘ said Baeumler, author of Measure Twice.“If you’re hiring someone to do work it’s the same thing: you don’t have to know how to do it, but you should have a basic understanding of how things are done so that you can keep your eye on things and you can spot any potential problems.”

Measure Twice offers a comprehensive list of nearly 200 mistakes to steer clear of in upgrades, renos and installations, from minor fixes to larger structural changes.There are critical tasks that Baeumler thinks untrained and unlicensed homeowners should avoid, such as electrical work.“It can void your insurance if you’ve done electrical work on your own and you haven’t pulled a permit or had an inspection on it,” he said.“You can burn your house down and end up with a smouldering hole in the ground that you still owe a lot of money on – and your insurance company is not going to cover it.”He said homeowners should earmark 25 to 30 per cent of their renovation budgets for unforeseen problems, which aren’t uncommon.“It’s very, very, very infrequent that I open a wall and don’t find an issue that we need to address, or something in the home that needs to be fixed,” said Baeumler, who also hosts HGTV Canada shows Leave it to Bryan and House of Bryan.READ MORE: How HGTV Canada built a specialty powerhouse“There’s always upgrades, changes and surprises.”

Many people tend to have a “disposable mentality” with respect to housing, seeking to simply move on to a new home rather than making investments for the long-term.But Baeumler thinks homeowners will become increasingly interested in improving the energy efficiency and longevity of their houses.“Low-carrying and operating costs of the home ultimately adds value to the home,” he said.“Saving money every month leaves a lot of money in your bank account to actually upgrade and buy those granite countertops and other decorative items for your house.”HGTV Canada is owned by Shaw Communications Inc., parent company of Global News.The requested URL /community/forums/showthread.php?t=23657 was not found on this server. said by Dodge:Where would one go to find a reputable contractor to remove a load bearing wall? I'm in central NJ. Spoke to the neighbors already, but all of them use a handyman for everything, and I don't think load bearing walls should be removed by a handyman, since there is another floor above the one where the wall is being removed.

Already tried Angie's list (total waste of time), home advisor (even bigger waste of time than Angie's list).I had an existing load bearing wall removed, and it required plans filed by an architect, certified by an engineer, and licensed builder had to sign on to do the work before my town would permit the work.My understanding is the architect is optional, but a licensed engineer and load calculation are required.Mi Ki Puppies For Sale In AzWe removed a longish load bearing wall to create open space, the existing ceiling is now supported by 4 gigantic 22" LVL beams, support for them has to go down to the foundation.Houses For Sale In St Nicholas Avenue GosportWhen working on a very large addition. Sapper T ShirtI wanted a 20' garage door, and an open 22' by 26' garage space.

This required very large LVL beams again, similarly in the living area of the addition, we added a large open area, and needed LVL, in a back extension done earlier, I wanted a high ceiling (about 11' high compared to 8' in most of the house). This also required LVL.At all times, an engineer and licensed builder were required to sign off. My foundation, was considered insufficient in one area to support the load (part of the load of the addition was to rest on a concrete slab. We had to open an 18" x 18" area of the slab, and install a base with reinforced 52" deep concrete support, which was designed to hold the load, and avoid settling issues later (a test of the soil for moisture and content was required to design the support piece).I do not regret one penny paid to assure the work done was appropriate for the building. Supporting walls, can get in the way, and I certainly appreciate removing them to make open space. However, whatever isn't supported by the removed wall must be well supported by something else, or you'll have a potential disaster on hand imo.

That’s a little before-and-after action of our living room. So, so, so many things have happened in between those two pictures. (Like, two years, kiddo #3, lots of hard work and not a lot of sleep.) I don’t consider the room “finished” but we’re awfully close. One of our biggest undertakings in this space was vaulting the ceiling and it’s something I want to share in more detail now that we’re living on the other (cleaner, less stressful) side of it. If you have been following along, you already know we removed the walls separating the original kitchen, dining and living rooms. When the walls came down, part of the plaster ceiling came down, too, and it gave us an idea – a wonderful, awful idea. Why not rip out the 8′ ceiling in the future kitchen-living space and vault it? We knew it would be a major renovation but we also knew it would totally make the space.  especially helpful) and in person with several contractors and a professional engineer at a local lumber yard.

We went back and forth between the options of installing collar ties or a structural ridge beam. In the end, we were advised to install a structural ridge beam. (You can read more about these events as they occurred in real time here and here.) We hired a contractor as this project was way beyond our DIY skill set. Our contractor worked closely with an engineer at a local lumber yard to create an LVL (laminated veneer lumber) beam specific to our roof pitch, room dimensions and length of span. Like I said, waaaayyyy-haaay-haaay beyond our skill set. An LVL beam is constructed of multiple layers of thin wood held together by adhesive. This allows for a smaller yet stronger structural support when compared to a solid wood beam. The compact size allowed us to run electrical along the beam (for track lighting + two ceiling fans) and box it in without taking up too much space at the peak. The LVL beam was manufactured off site, signed off on by a professional engineer and installed by our contractor.

These photos were taken after the structural ridge beam was installed. The fireplace wall is a block wall. A support was installed for the beam to rest on the block wall. At the other end of the beam is an interior wall – no block wall. To support the beam properly, the slab on either side of the doorway shown above was jackhammered and dug out. Footers were poured and the corner studs were replaced with glued and nailed 2 x 4 posts. The header above the doorway was beefed up as well to support the structural ridge beam. On a side note, the boys look so little! With the ridge beam installed, we were finally able to envision how the space might look someday. It felt so much bigger yet we hadn’t touched the house’s original footprint. How much did all of this cost? To have the LVL beam manufactured and installed, we shelled out $5,600. That was with us demo’ing the walls, the drop ceiling and most of the rafters. That price does not include insulation or drywall around the beam or affected walls.