A painter says he can do more than paint

Q. We started doing work to our home and are just finishing, and the painter suggested that a wall could be taken down to open up the rooms. He says he can do this himself because it’s not a support wall. We’ve looked into it, thinking about an island in the kitchen and matching the floor or replacing it. The painter said we might need an architect, but since the work is interior, it won’t need a permit. We’re wondering what we should do, because we know you’ll say we need a permit, but the painter says we can get one after the work is done, and he can start right away so he can finish the work and avoid interruptions. Do you think this is a good idea?

A. The permit, as a piece of paper or a process of reviewing the work, isn’t the point. As you read this, hundreds of projects around you are underway with no permits. Most of them will either never be found out or are of such small consequence that when an issue comes up, it will be ignored.
Usually, I only learn about problems when either a buyer or a lending bank wants something put on record. I receive frantic calls asking if plans can be made quickly and a permit obtained before the closing in a week. Anyone who tells you the permit process is quick is trying to sell you something.
But remember, the permit document isn’t really the important thing. The permit is a symbol representing a more important issue — safety. Safety not only includes your well-being against doing something dangerous; it also means preventing health risks and the potential of losing a large sum of money if something goes wrong.
Removing a non-structural wall is a little misleading. The wall may not be supporting anything, but it has weight that you want to replace with another load. In general, people rarely look at any kind of building as a system of puzzle pieces, all fitting together in a specific way.

As an example of what can happen, I once got a call from someone who had that wall removed and added an island. The wall load was removed from the beams below, which was a good thing because those beams were now carrying less of a load. Then an island was installed, a four-foot-wide model with a beautiful quartz countertop, a sink and a six-burner stove. The homeowner also wanted an open display for restaurant-sized canned peeled tomatoes, ready for use with one of their famous recipes.
The island load was calculated after the finished flooring began to distort and come loose and sagged 4 inches, when I was called to figure out what was going wrong. The island weighed at least six times the load of the wall, and the beam below was buckling. The floor bounced and the wine glasses in a nearby cabinet clinked together every time someone walked by.

© 2025 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.