Making a feature out of a Vertical POST- middle of the room

[daddypaul]

Hi all, will be doing a renovation of a residential house into commercial premises.

There is an internal load bearing wall dividing the current kitchen and loungeroom.

I need to open up this entire area, to make it into a waiting room.

I can get rid of the plaster, etc, and leave some vertical posts, but what can i do with two of these in the waiting room? I was thinking of just staining them and making a feature out of them.

Alternatively, if i want to fully remove them, what is involved structurally, in making things strong enough for the roof not to fall down? Does the builder put another beam under the ceiling?

All help and any suggestions very much appreciated!

[burraboy]

What about carving them?

[corbs]

In the Navy we do ornamental lashings on them with Turks Heads and running knots.

[Angeloioc]

You need to place a steel beam in the ceiling.

[dai sensei]

Be careful, if the structural wall is for vertical load only you can remove all but the posts, but if it is a shear wall you can't. It all comes own to the loads in your neck of the woods and the wall arrangements.

[RETIRED]

In the Navy we do ornamental lashings on them with Turks Heads and running knots.

Is that to hold the AB's?

[corbs]

Is that to hold the AB's?

More to keep them occupied... idle hands and all that sort of stuff

[ian]

hi and welcome
where you live there will be building codes that apply to what you want to do.
a steel beam in the ceiling will need to sit on top of some sort of column either end, which might mean reinforcing the remaining walls.
also, as mentioned if the wall you want to remove carries shear loads -- sideways force from one side of the building to the other there are otehr considerations.
think of shear loads as being what stops the house folding in on itself when the wind blows directly onto one external wall

[joe greiner]

How deep are your pockets?

If it's a one-story building, it might be easier to place the new beam in the attic, with limited reconstruction of the roof. In any event the end supports will probably need to be rebuilt to carry the new load. For this adventure, as well as simply eliminating walls, you'd best engage a structural engineer, to fully assess the situation, especially its resistance to lateral loads.

For a waiting room, adding magazine racks to the existing posts, with or without features, would be my first consideration.

Cheers,
Joe