[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree - they can answer the question and possibly propose a solution, but I'd want to see their structural calculations, stamped by a licensed engineer before I'd let them touch anything.

Letting Billy-Joe-Jim-Bob into your house and just letting him "rip dat sumbatch out" probably isn't too terribly wise. There are plenty of cases out there where fly-by-night contractors overstep their bounds or try to pull "fast ones" circumventing the normal permitting process and later the thing ends up failing. When the owner seeks retribution, guess what? They're impossible to find, have gone out-of-state, or have dissolved their business and are now operating under a different name.

In all cases, the owner is the loser (sometimes more than just financially!)

A good, quality, licensed and bonded general contractor should be able to propose a solution and I'd invite them to look, but without a licensed professional's structural calculations, I wouldn't let 'em lift a paintbrush on something like this, much less a sawzall. If you get the calcs done first, it'll simply solve the headache later (and possible inflated prices) - you can simply bid the job to a few G.C.s and say "build it" and get what you want and what you know is gonna' be safe and up-to-code.