Who to call about removing a possible wall

[Alex Nelson]

Hi Guys,

I just purchased my first investment property, a duplex, that i plan to house hack. It was built in the early 80's and the kitchen is it's own small room with a doorway between it and the living/dining room. I'd like to remove this doorway and the small amount of wall around it to open the kitchen up to the rest of the house.

I know that it is a bad idea to remove a wall without consulting an expert, but I'm not exactly sure who I need to talk to about this. I've looked in the attic and it looks like there may be a support coming down from the roof to this part of the wall. (well a large amount of wall, but only a small part of that is the area i wish to remove). Would i call an engineer for this? Or is there someone else that i should talk to? 

Also is it possible to remove one support and make like a triangle to either side to replace it? From what i can see, it looks like there is only one support going down to this section of wall and replacing it with a triangle shaped support seems like an easy fix. But i don't know what I'm talking about so I'm coming to you lovely people for help! Any advice would be much appreciated!

-Alex