Gardenia Wall Removal

[shadowann]

We recently moved into a Gardenia designer home south of 44. It is the version that has a half wall enclosing the entry area at the front of the house. When we looked at the house before buying, we liked the wall. Since moving in, we’ve decided we don’t like the wall. Makes the entry too closed off. We’d like to take the wall down. Has anyone with this style home ever done this? Does anyone know how this wall is constructed, how it connects to the garage wall & concrete slab, etc.

[villagetinker]

I removed the posts in a Begonia (very similar to Gardenia), these had concrete nails through the wood into the concrete, I would expect the same at your house. The post by the wall had an extra stud for the connection the top and bottom of the post and a way to attach the drywall.
I believe you bigger problem will be the tile does NOT go under the wall, so when you remove the wall, you will need to locate matching tiles, probably remove several tiles on both sides of the removed wall and have these replaced. The area where the half wall connects to the garage can easily be repaired with a narrow piece of 5/8 inch drywall. Double check and make sure there is no wiring on this short wall. Hope this helps.

[shadowann]

I removed the posts in a Begonia (very similar to Gardenia), these had concrete nails through the wood into the concrete, I would expect the same at your house. The post by the wall had an extra stud for the connection the top and bottom of the post and a way to attach the drywall.
I believe you bigger problem will be the tile does NOT go under the wall, so when you remove the wall, you will need to locate matching tiles, probably remove several tiles on both sides of the removed wall and have these replaced. The area where the half wall connects to the garage can easily be repaired with a narrow piece of 5/8 inch drywall. Double check and make sure there is no wiring on this short wall. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the feedback. Not sure we’re talking about the same thing, however. Pretty sure our wall is stucco’d block between block garage wall & block lamp post on top of concrete pad. No wood or drywall or tile. My concern is whether there is rebar holding half wall to garage wall or lamp post or concrete pad. Your point about wiring is also a good one I hadn’t thought of. Lamp post getting power from somewhere.

[Bogie Shooter]

We recently moved into a Gardenia designer home south of 44. It is the version that has a half wall enclosing the entry area at the front of the house. When we looked at the house before buying, we liked the wall. Since moving in, we’ve decided we don’t like the wall. Makes the entry too closed off. We’d like to take the wall down. Has anyone with this style home ever done this? Does anyone know how this wall is constructed, how it connects to the garage wall & concrete slab, etc.

The folks at home warranty may be able to help.

[villagetinker]

OH, this is an outside wall, sorry. If this is a newer home, you should be able to get the actual house plans from Sumter County building department. I would offer ours, but we do not have that wall. The plans should have the details of the wall construction. I can take look and see if ours references this type of wall in the notes. There may be rebar, but that is not a problem, a angle grinder with a cutoff wheel will go through that. You do realize that you will need ARC approval for this project. The post lamp wire will PORBABLY be in a conduit back to the garage. The home plans actually show the wiring so you should be able to determine which receptacle it is connected to. Hope this helps.