Taking out the wall between the kitchen and the living or dining room is the change people most often want and the one that most often turns a cosmetic remodel into construction. Whether it is simple depends on what the wall does.
Load-bearing or not
Some interior walls only divide rooms. Others carry the floor or ceiling joists above them, and in some houses the roof. When a load-bearing wall comes out, a beam takes its place, and the beam rests on posts that carry the load down to the foundation.
You cannot tell from the room. The direction of the joists above, what sits on the floor above, and the original plans tell; a contractor will often bring in a structural engineer to size the beam and its supports.
What is inside the wall
A kitchen wall often holds wiring for outlets and switches, sometimes plumbing vents or supply lines, and sometimes a duct or a gas line. Each of those has to be moved, rerouted or capped by the trade licensed for it before the wall can go.
How the house stays up meanwhile
While a load-bearing wall is open, temporary supports carry the load: adjustable steel posts or framed walls set up on either side, holding the joists until the new beam is in place. Ask how the contractor will support the structure during the work.
The permit
Opening a wall needs a building permit almost everywhere. The City of Las Vegas lists moving, removing or adding walls among the work that requires one. In Los Angeles, the express permit for a kitchen remodel is only for work with no structural changes, so a load-bearing wall goes through plan review. The inspector looks at the new beam and its supports before the drywall closes them in.
Ask who will take out the permit. In Nevada, an owner who pulls the permit as an owner-builder loses access to the state's Residential Recovery Fund for that work; see Checking a contractor.
Updated 2026-10-12.