Open Concept Kitchen Remodel | Removing Load Bearing Walls

Select your city for exacts 👇

• El Segundo, CA

  El Segundo is one of the simpler approvals on the list. The ground is flat and the city is built out, so there is no hillside or geology review to clear, and the permit comes down to a clean engineered plan set with seismic calculations filed through the city's EZ Permit Hub. The thing to budget for here is age. Most of the housing is older and mid-century, so once the wall is open you tend to find wiring and plumbing that has to come up to code before anything closes back up, and that is what moves an El Segundo budget more than the permit does.

  • Permits and forms: El Segundo Building and Safety Division
  • Permit portal: EZ Permit Hub
  • Key takeaway: No geology review to worry about, but budget for wiring and plumbing upgrades once the wall opens.

• Manhattan Beach, CA

  Manhattan Beach is where the permit history matters as much as the construction. The city issues a building record report every time a home sells, so any kitchen or wall work a previous owner did without a permit surfaces during escrow. Pulling a clean permit on your wall removal protects the resale as much as the project in front of you. The homes here also make the structural side bigger than most. These are narrow-lot, three-story houses where nearly every interior wall carries the floors above it, so opening the kitchen usually means catching second and third-floor loads on a new beam and running them down to new footings, and both the scope and the plan check run longer than a single-story job. If you are widening windows for the view at the same time, expect a separate Planning review alongside the structural one.

  • Permits and forms: Manhattan Beach Building and Safety Division
  • Permit portal: Enterprise Permitting and Licensing
  • Key takeaway: Confirm the existing kitchen was permitted before you start, and plan for a larger structural scope on these multi-story homes.

• Hermosa Beacha, CA

  Hermosa Beach has a quirk that shapes the whole job: a very shallow water table, as little as six to fifteen feet down with underground streams beneath it. That is why the city commonly asks for a geotechnical report, and it matters here more than almost anywhere, because the new beam lands on posts and footings that have to bear into that wet soil. The soils report drives how those footings are designed, and it has to be done before the structural design is final, so it is the step that most often stretches the schedule. The housing follows the same beach-city pattern as its neighbors, narrow lots and tall, skinny homes where most walls carry load, so second-floor transfers are common. We have written up the Hermosa Beach permit process in more detail if you want the full walk-through.

  • Permits and forms: Hermosa Beach Building Division
  • Permit portal: Accela
  • Key takeaway: Get the geotechnical report early. It drives the footing design and is usually what sets the schedule.

• Redondo Beach, CA

  Redondo Beach puts an extra gate at the front. Planning has to review and stamp the plans before Building and Safety will open the structural plan check, so the project clears two reviews in sequence and the front end runs longer than a single-review city. Where the home sits matters too. The inland side is older single-family cottages, while the waterfront and King Harbor fall in the coastal zone and can require a Coastal Development Permit. A flat inland single-story is a straightforward beam-and-footing job, while a multi-level home near the Strand carries upper-floor load that has to come down, and the older cottages tend to hide dated wiring and plumbing in the very walls you are opening. Our Redondo Beach permit guide covers the local steps in full.

  • Permits and forms: Redondo Beach Building and Safety Division
  • Permit portal: iWorQ Citizen Portal
  • Key takeaway: Build in time for the Planning stamp before structural plan check, and check whether the address falls in the coastal zone.

• Torrance, CA

  Torrance is the most straightforward and usually the most affordable of the nine for this work. The city went fully digital in January 2026, with plan check through its Accela Citizen Access portal, and permit fees here run a few hundred dollars rather than the coastal range. The sequencing point to know is that zoning clearance from Planning comes first, before Building and Safety will take the structural submittal. Torrance is big and varied, with coastal-adjacent neighborhoods near the water and large inland tracts, but much of it is mid-century single-story, which usually means a simpler load path, since the wall carries the ceiling and roof rather than a floor above. As with any mid-century home, expect older wiring and plumbing to surface once the wall is open. We have a Torrance permit walk-through if you want the detail.

  • Permits and forms: Torrance Building and Safety Division
  • Permit portal: Accela Citizen Access
  • Key takeaway: Get zoning clearance from Planning first. This is generally the lowest-cost, simplest permit of the nine.

• Palos Verdes Estates, CA

  Palos Verdes Estates has the most involved approval of the nine, and most of it is not the city. Before the Office of Building and Safety looks at the structural plans, two community bodies weigh in: the Art Jury, whose authority over anything affecting the home's exterior is written into the city's deed restrictions, and the Palos Verdes Homes Association. The Art Jury charges its own fees, scaled to the project, and runs on its own calendar, which is what makes PVE the longest front end on the Peninsula. For a kitchen that stays entirely interior, the structural plan check is the main path, but the moment you add or enlarge a window or door for light or a view, which open layouts almost always invite, the Art Jury is in the picture. PVE is also the oldest Peninsula city, full of deed-restricted Spanish and Mediterranean homes whose framing is rarely textbook, so opening a section of wall to confirm the real load path before the beam is designed is time well spent. We walk through the process in our Palos Verdes Estates Art Jury guide.

  • Permits and forms: Palos Verdes Estates Building and Safety
  • Permit portal: Handled through the city Office of Building and Safety; no public online portal
  • Key takeaway: Start the Art Jury and Homes Association review early. Any exterior window or door change triggers it, and it sets the timeline.

• Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

  In Rancho Palos Verdes, the ground comes before the beam. A soils and geology report accepted by the City Geologist usually has to clear before structural plan check even begins, and homes in the landslide zones, Portuguese Bend and Seaview among them, need a Landslide Exception Permit on top of the building permit. Recent land movement has tightened that review, so the first thing to confirm is whether the home sits in a landslide zone, because the answer can reshape what is even buildable. Much of the city is also a Very High Fire Severity Zone, which pulls wildfire-rated materials into any exterior work. The homes are mostly 1960s post-and-beam and ranch designs that predate open layouts, so this is exactly the kind of work we do here, though the framing has to be verified first. The city does not keep old single-family plans, so the original framing is usually a mystery on paper, which is one more reason we open the wall to see what is carrying load before designing the beam.

  • Permits and forms: Rancho Palos Verdes Building and Safety Division
  • Permit portal: E-Trakit and GoPost
  • Key takeaway: Confirm the landslide zone first, and expect a City Geologist soils review before plan check.

• Rolling Hills, CA

  Rolling Hills is a private, gated city, and approval comes from two places that both have to say yes. The city handles site plan review and issues the permit through a contracted building department, and the Rolling Hills Community Association reviews the design to protect the community's single-story ranch character and its rule that utilities run underground. Because it is all hillside, a soils and geology report is required on essentially every project, even an interior wall removal tied to new footings. The homes are large custom single-story ranches on multi-acre, often equestrian, lots, and a single-story ranch usually means a simpler load path, so the engineering tends to be the easy part. The timeline lives in the two-body approval and the geology, so that is where to plan.

  • Permits and forms: City of Rolling Hills Planning and Community Services
  • Permit portal: Handled through the contracted building department; no public online portal
  • Key takeaway: Get both the City and the Community Association on board before design, and plan for a geology report on essentially any project.

• Rolling Hills Estates, CA

  Rolling Hills Estates runs its Building and Safety through a contracted official, with zoning clearance from Planning up front and the permit issued electronically once fees are paid. It sits on the same hillside as the rest of the Peninsula, so a soils and geology review can come into play on a structural job, especially where new footings are involved. The wrinkle to check before you finalize a design is the overlay: the city has horse-keeping neighborhoods and a number of HOA tracts whose design rules sit on top of the city permit. The housing is largely 1960s and 1970s hillside homes, so opening them up is common, though the framing and foundation conditions vary enough that the design should follow what the wall actually shows once it is open.

  • Permits and forms: Rolling Hills Estates Building and Safety
  • Permit portal: Contracted building department, with electronic permit issuance
  • Key takeaway: Check HOA and horse-overlay rules before finalizing the design, and confirm whether the lot needs a soils review.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I know if my kitchen wall is load-bearing?

  A wall is likely load-bearing if it runs perpendicular to the floor or ceiling joists above it, sits near the center of the home, stacks directly above a wall or beam on the floor below, or continues down to the foundation. Exterior walls are almost always load-bearing. The only way to confirm it is to have a contractor or structural engineer look at the framing, because removing the wrong wall can damage the structure.

• How much does it cost to remove a load-bearing wall in the South Bay?

  Removing a load-bearing wall and installing the beam that replaces it generally starts around $10,000 to $20,000, depending on the length of the wall and the framing above it. Long spans that need a PSL or steel beam cost more, and structural engineering plans typically add several thousand dollars. Two-story homes and condos cost more than single-story homes because the load path is more complex. We set final pricing after opening a section of the wall to see the actual framing.

• Do I need a permit to remove a load-bearing wall in the South Bay?

  Yes. Every South Bay city requires a building permit to remove or modify a load-bearing wall, and there are no exemptions. Each city permits through its own building department, and the work also typically requires electrical and mechanical permits when wiring or ducting runs through the wall. You will need structural engineering calculations stamped by a California-licensed engineer, and a building inspector has to verify the beam and connections before drywall covers the work.

• What kind of beam is used to replace a load-bearing wall?

  The most common options are laminated veneer lumber (LVL), parallel strand lumber (PSL), and steel beams. A structural engineer sizes the beam for the span and the load above it. Shorter openings can often use an LVL beam, while longer spans or heavy second-story loads usually call for a PSL or steel beam. The beam can sit below the ceiling line as a drop beam or be hidden inside the ceiling as a flush beam.

• Can you remove a load-bearing wall on the second floor?

  Yes, but it costs more and takes more planning. When the wall is on a second floor or carries a second floor above it, the load has to be transferred down through the structure to the foundation. That often means opening drywall on the floor below, adding new posts, and reinforcing the foundation with new footings where the posts land.

• How long does it take to remove a load-bearing wall during a kitchen remodel?

  The structural portion of the work, including temporary shoring, wall removal, beam installation, and inspection, usually takes one to two weeks on its own. The full kitchen remodel timeline depends on the rest of the scope, such as cabinets, countertops, and finishes. Permitting and engineering happen before any demolition begins and can add several weeks on the front end.