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Yes, you can put a doorway in a structural wall; in fact, most exterior doors are set into structural walls. The project is a little more challenging than installing a door in a non-load-bearing wall because you need a structural engineer to assess the wall and make sure it’s safe to create a wall opening. Your engineer’s report will include instructions for your contractor on how and where to install additional supports, like steel headers above the door, to distribute the weight above to the wall on either side of the door.

Absolutely, as it ensures designs are viable and won’t compromise structural integrity.

You should pick steel for your new support beam for a few reasons. While steel is more expensive than other materials, such as laminated veneer lumber or glulam, it offers the following benefits:

• Fire-resistant

• Unaffected by pests

• Longer-lasting

• Stronger against water damage (when galvanized against rust)

Although the two terms are closely related and often used interchangeably, pier and beam foundations and crawl spaces are different things. A pier and beam foundation is made up of concrete piers and wooden beams and creates a space under the home known as a crawl space. There are several types of foundations that create crawl spaces, often collectively known as “crawl space foundations,” but the crawl space itself is separate from the foundation.