Structural Engineering and Repair

TLDR: These guys are nothing short of incredible. Use them! You won’t regret it! Context: My wife and I had extreme water damage in our master bathroom due to condensation and moisture build up. The catch was that the bathroom was designed as a bi-cantilever system on the corner of a foundation (not easy). When I pulled up the floor and tore the ceiling down I noticed the east-west joists had rotted out completely, and the previous builder never even bothered to install north-south joists; it was 2’ of cantilever all resting on 1.5” of rim joist. Atop all of this, there was no support on the ceiling. It’s a miracle the thing didn’t collapse! Introductions: After talking with several structural engineers who did site visits and ultimately deemed the project difficult enough that it wasn’t worth their time, I submitted the floor layout and tentative foundation plan to Load Bearing Wall Company hoping for a consult. This was 5PM on a Friday. That same night Aslam reached out and within 10 minutes of me telling him I had the room down tot he studs he had set me up for a scheduled site visit. Mere days later Aslam showed up. But it wasn’t just him. He brought what seemed like the whole company! Dave (Project Lead), Tom (Structural Engineer), Kristina (Coordinator), Andy (Owner), and even a young teen who came in and immediately lidar scanned the whole house. They surveyed both inside and outside, discussed high level solutions with us, and went to the drawing board. Planning: Aslam and Tom went back and forth over the next two weeks on a number of solutions. This is key — it isn’t often that a company will have internal debate on potential solutions. LBWC does this, and what’s more they consult you during the whole process to ensure they’re working within your constraints (budget, time, etc.) and you understand the solutions they are working toward. Ultimately they presented us with two solutions, both fully detailed and easy to understand. We agreed to one, paid the deposit, and were on their schedule within a week. Amazing. Execution: When the team showed up, we were surprised. Normally with companies you have a couple guys assigned a small number of man hours per week for your project, and it could take months. Dave (Project Lead) and Jon (Site Lead) showed up with a team of 5 men. These guys showed up on time (7 AM most days) and got right to work until 3-4PM in the afternoon. Every day. Fully allocated. Upon encountering a problem on site that they didn’t anticipate, they ran an audible and delivered. Ultimately we ended up with a poured column inside our crawlspace to bear the north-south joists, a drop beam in the ceiling, new flush beams and exterior wall framing, a new knee wall atop the foundation, and triple braced joists so that we can put, well, whatever the hell we want on that floor without worrying about sag or collapse. Reflection: Aside from the outstanding work these guys do, every single one of them was respectful, responsive to questions, and a joy to be around. As they reached the end of the job my wife looked at me and said, “I am actually going to really miss these guys being around the house.” You can tell when a team of builders has a sense of camaraderie. These guys enjoy being around each other. We could hear them laugh, jest, and jape at each other as they worked. They listened to Madonna one day, and Tool the next. They love what they do. They are experts. They aren’t snobby. In the end they delivered, we paid, and we said our good byes. I hope I never have anything else go wrong in this house related to the framing (knock on wood), but if I do I know the first company i’ll turn to, and it’s Load Bearing Wall Company. From my wife Alex and I to all of you who were so amazing, thank you for your incredible service. P.S. Joe, I hope that Kia is working out.

We wanted a vault in our master bedroom ceiling and they did an amazing job! I received a phone call within 10 minutes of submitting a web inquiry. After they determined it was a project that could be accomplished, the communication with their team was frequent and accurate. On the two days of construction the team made every effort to keep their work space clean and everyone was very friendly. We are really happy with outcome! Completed pictures to follow...

From the beginning it was a pleasure to work with Aslam, Dave and their crew. Five stars all around for their service.

Great experience from planning to completion. Complicated garage/addition project that went smoothly all around.

We had a positive experience working with Load Bearing Wall Company. We appreciated that they kept things moving quickly and kept us informed throughout the entire process. When they were working onsite they were efficient and did a great job cleaning up.

Great experience! Andy provided a plan and proposal quickly. Dave and team completed the work in two days. The whole crew was professional and friendly. Very smooth operation.

Great working with these guys, absolutely wonderful work!

Very easy to work with! They answered all the questions I had, were able to come out quickly to get the job done, and made sure I understood what was happening. The crew was very nice and polite and cleaned everything up! I had a fairly large project with five steel beams put into my basement and getting the beams fixed under my front porch. My house (built in 1908) feels much more sturdy now!

Very responsive, on site quickly, quoted quickly and construction done thoroughly and accurately