Load Bearing Wall Identification

looking to knock our bathroom through to the toilet ,there is a 6ft block wall that we want to take out,how do we check to see if it is load bearing??

Jamie,
Follow the advice in the last paragraph in the column above. It is the best money you will spend on this project.

I have a wall 10 foot wall in my basement that is directly under a beam which initially made me think it was load bearing. This wall is there to create a home office space that was there when I bought the house. The home office, as well as the room above it are not an addition per say, as the concrete foundation was originally poured including the room. The rooms however do jut out from the core of the house on thier own.

However, after further investigation there is a lally column buried in the wall.

With the precense of the lally column supporting the beam, I would imagine that the wall is not necessary correct?

Nick,
That is a good assumption. Be sure the beam is supported at the ends and middle before removing the wall.

I have a wall between my living room and office. It runs parallel with the floor joists below, AND above it. But that is the only wall below that section of the second floor. Do you think that is a load bearing wall or do you think it is just a wall. I've had 4 different professionals look at it, and it came back 50/50. 2 said it was. the other 2 said it wasn't. I'm going to assume that it IS a load bearing wall, since there is nothing else underneath the second floor. Am I correct to assume that? Thanks

Amanda,
If what you are telling me is accurate, I say it is NOT a bearing wall.

Can you please tell me the per square load weight on my roof. It has 2x6 conventional trusses with a 2x4 running the width of the roof with a 2x6 diagonal brace. There is a 2x6 under the 2x4 that adds support to the braced truss. they are 16 feet long. 5/12 pitch.
1x6 tongue and grove decking.
thank you
Charles

Charles,
Nope, but a structural engineer can.

Hello, I have a wall that is created at my front entrance to create a division between my living room and stairs to the second floor giving a hallway effect. The wall runs parallel with the floor joists above and below. I was wondering if it was structural or not because when I removed the drywall I found some clues. First there was a double 2+4 supporting the top of the wall and the 2+4's appeared to be southern yellow pine. There was also a floor truss added directly below the wall but that truss did not have additional support like you might expect if it were structural. I am guessing that the additional truss (a 2+10) was just added for a nailer. I have a typical (A) roof which to the best of my knowledge is supported by the exterior walls so to make this wall structural does not seem necessary. Please let me know what you think. I plan on hiring a structural engineer to verify my assumption but I would like to know what you think first.

Thank you,
Steve

Steve,
It doesn't matter what I think. I would need to be there to see many other things to make a call I feel comfortable with.

I have a brick built wall which I am satisfied is load bearing but perpendicular to this is a small wall at 3 foot 6 inches height.

I want to remove the small wall which clearly is not load bearing but I am concerned that it may be giving integrity to the load bearing wall and preventing lateral movement. Do load bearing walls ever stand as a single self contained wall without linking to perpendicular walls or having brick piers?

The network of joists and floor boards above must give a lot of integrity to the supporting wall I suppose...

Peter

Peter,
Surely you already know my answer..... call in a structural engineer. Read the column above and tell me how many people would never guess the wall in the photo is holding up tons of weight..... Maybe that little wall is important!

Dear Mr. Carter,

I want to knock out a wall between my small bedroom and another small room to make one large room. However, my husband is worried that it is a supporting wall.
Its on the 2nd floor with no walls below it, but it looks like its at the peak of the roof.

So my question is, can we knock it out? And if not, can we at least make an arch-way or squar opening, leaving the top and side posts in tact?

Thank you very much for your help
Nicole Joudrey

Nicole,
Even if it is a load-bearing wall, it can almost always be replaced with a beam. It can be a load-bearing wall without a wall beneath it downstairs. There could be a hidden beam in the floor! I urge you to have a structural engineer come out for a visit. Her/his fee will buy enormous peace of mind.

my basement has 2 cement colunms with a wood beam that runs over top of them through the middle of my basement., i have a staircase leading to the basement with no walls that run horizontal to the joist but above this staircase there are walls and another staircase leading up to the second floor, my question is should there be supporting walls in the basement by the stairs or is the supporting beam and colunms that is place exactly in the middle o the house the load bearing supports for the floor above?

Chris,
You are good to go. There is probably no need for any walls in the basement.

I am planning a loft conversion on a 1920s bungalow. the cieling joists need to be upgraded, the existing joists are joined above a timber frame wall which runs the length of the building. Can I assume this wall is loadbearing and will take the weight of the heavier joists required.

Niall,
You can assume whatever you want. I, on the other hand, would call in a structural engineer.

I am interested in tearing down a wall between the kitchen and the living room. We have the house plans and it identifies load bearing walls, but the wall that I want to tear down is not identified as a load bearing wall.

Is it safe to assume that the wall in question is NOT a load bearing wall?

Angie,
You can start this by removing a small piece of the ceiling to inspect what is above. If you or someone who knows about structure thinks the wall is non-load bearing, then continue with the demolition. Read all of my Bearing Wall columns for tips on how to spot a load-bearing wall. Remember, it s easy to get fooled. Look at the photo of the wall between my family room and breakfast wall. Who would ever think that was load bearing?

Hi, i have a 6ft long wall seperating my kitchen and living room that i want to get rid of. The joists on the floor and ceiling run parallel with the wall and it is a modern truss roof. I realize i can check the crawl space and attic and knock the drywall off to be sure but i wanted an expert opinion before i do that or pay someone a bunch of money to tell me something i could have figured out myself. Thanks in advance.

I need to run #10 wire from the basement to the attic and then down to a second floor bathroom for a pump for a tub. I am concerned about running the wire through the 2x4 baseplate of a load bearing wall. Is the baseplate critical to the load bearing wall? Would it be better to run the wires through a non-load bearing wall? Since I have to run new wires up anyway, I thought I would run 3 extra #12 2-conductor with grounds to separate some of the loads. What do you think?

This is somewhat of the typical situation. It is a wall between my kitchen & dining room with one doorway into the kitchen. I have a chimney from the basement all the way to the roof in the corner. I would like to remove this wall(up to the chimney) & install cabinets for a breakfast bar type of counter. The house style is a such that the entire 2nd story is the attic. The only supports in the attic (besides the chimney) are supporting the roof while going down the the exterior walls. I do not know which way the roof beams are going yet but I believe there is a good chance it not bearing any weight. Before I go the engineer route I would like to know your thoughts. Thanks

Hi. On the home we purchased, the previous owner converted a garage into a room so that now instead of there being an exit door out into the garage, it is open from the dining area into the den which was actually the garage. A wall must have been removed and we believe that where the wall was removed from, there is now a beam across the ceiling and a vertical beam at each end of this beam. Is it possible that these 3 beams have taken the place of the former garage wall for support? If so, how can we remove the beams since we're installing a wall about 4' away to enclose the area and convert the den back into a garage? Also, where the dining area overlooks the den, there is an iron railing since it's a step down area and there is a post at the end of railing that goes to the beam on the ceiling as if in support. It is not centered on the beam. Any ideas? Thanks!

Matt,
It sounds like you have it figured out.

Tom,
It is fine to run that cable through the bottom plate of the wall. No worries.

I have an interior wall between kitchen and living room that I want to remove on the second (top) floor with nothing below it. This wall runs perpendicular to roof joists (non-truss) and parrallel to floor joists. I was under the impression that it was in fact load bearing until I removed all the sheet rock and discovered that this wall sits BETWEEN the floor joists. After more inspection, I noticed that the entire length of the wall is only sitting on the subfloor and not even on a floor joist. The cieling franing does include a partial 2 by 10 (double) beam and scissored joists with tie backs to roof rafters. After showing the cavity below the wall to a contractor, he was sure that the wall is not load bearing due to lack of any support below the wall. I guess I want to be absolutely sure! Thoughts or comments?

Fred,
I can't give you an answer unless I see the house. This is exactly why I tell people like you that you must have an engineer come to your home. You may not notice mission-critical structural things that we may see.

Thanks for the quick response. Although a simple "yes or no" would have been enough for "people like me."

Christy,
Anything is possible. You need to engage a structural engineer.

Kevin,
It could still be a bearing wall. There might be hidden blocking in the floor! Get a structural engineer out there for peace of mind.

Hello, I have a 1960's tri-level. The Lower level is 25' x 25' on slab and block.  The room is divided by a ledge steel bean that run perpendicular to the floor joists support by a steel column(in the middle)and block on the ends that supports the upstairs wall. I want to remove 13' of a 25'wall that runs parallel to floor joists and perpedicular which is located in the center of the room. I had 3 contractors look at it and they all said it wasnot load bearing. I was all set to signed contract when,the last contractor told me that it was load bearing. because there is a wall on top of it. One contractor said since I was buiding a 12' wall under the steel that wall would become a load bearing wall. At this point, I'm totally confused. I don't know if it is worth it to get a structural engineer or not. Because if is load bearing, I don't want to put in a header (basement already have low ceilings).

Mary,
What is on top of that second wall? The price of a consult from an engineer is the only thing standing in the way. You should have one come out.

I have a column in the corner of my living room. How do I tell if this was put there to bear a load, or just for decorative purposes? I would like to remove it.

Amber,
Consider following the advice I give in this column.

I would like to know the widest garage door I can have for a 24X32 ft garage with the side walls on 16 inch center and trusses on 24 inch center with the garage door opening being a load bearing wall.

Harry,
I would think you could answer this at the websites of the people who sell garage doors. What is the widest residential door made?

I know that my wall is load bearing. It is electrical, plumbing and vent free. The wall seperates a hallway and single car garage in the lower level (walk out basement) of a two story home. There is no roof load on this wall (only supports the 2nd floor). The wall is 21 feet long. Is there a code (IRC?) or reference as to how far apart columns should be spaced to support the header?

Hello,

I am in the beginning process of renovating my kitchen. There is a wall that seperates my kitchen and what was my living room soon to be dining room. I really really really want to tear down the wall and make the cupboard space that is there into an island sort of. This wall runs across the trusses in my attic. There is a 4 foot opening for a walkway on one side with the bedroom wall continuing down the hall and about a eight foot opening on the other to the outside wall. The wall itself is somewhere between 5 to 6 feet in length with a little chunk off the corner.


below it is the main beam of the house supported by the telescopic poles.


thank you for your time
dean

I have a small top floor victorian flat conversion with only 1 solid wall(the rest are partition walls). I'm not able to check the joists at the bottom of the solid wall at the moment as there's wood flooring down. However I was wondering since the roof is held up by the exterior walls, and i'm on the very top floor so there's nothing above me to hold up, can I assume that the wall isn't load bearing?

Thanks for any help.

After reading your comments, I am getting a structural engineer in to look an an innocent half wall between kitchen and living area. Your advice has, I'm sure, saved me no end of grief. I know there is electrical wiring, but that possible hidden support post would have given me nightmares.

We have a rectangular brick one story house - simple one peak roof design - exact style house a 5 year old would draw. There is a wall that runs perpendicular to the roof trusses and is in the exact middle of the house and it is about half the length of the house - I'm assuming this is my main load bearing wall. I don't want to mess with this wall, but there is one that runs into it - running parallel to the trusses that I want to take out. It separates my dining room and living room - it's about 9' long and does have electrical, so not sure if that helps. I'd appreciate your opinion, but before I bust out the sledgehammer, I will get an in-person second opinion.
-Andrew

I think this is a dead topic. I asked a question and didn't get an answer nor has the builder answered anyone else since a month prior to my post in mid May.

I have a banister that separates the kitchen from the familyroom and it used to be a solid wall. How can I tell if the 4x4 post that is part of the banister is a load bearing??

plz
guide me

I was told a Ranch style house does not have load bearing walls in the middle is that true?

In a two storey condo, I would like to remove a U shaped wall that encloses the kitcken. The condo is 16 x 43 and the ceiling/floor above is an 8" concrete slab. At 11' there is a 16' concrete wall with a doorway. At 27', I would keep 3 to 4' of another concrete wall. The rest would pretty much remain open other than the fact that the kitchen ceiling comes down 16", forcing me to keep 16" of the existing wall at ceiling level.

I have a wall between the kitchen and dining. It is definitely running in parallel to the floor joists. But not sure if it is parallel to the second floor's joinsts or not. Generally both joists should run in the same direction, correct?

Also, safe to assume that if it is not a load bearing wall?

I determined the wall between fireplace and entrance way is load bearing. The wall distance between these two is equal to 3 joists, or about 36 inches. I would like to cut an opening to install stereo equipment. Is this wise given such a short distance?

Load bearing wall system

My wife and I are currently shopping around for houses. 1 house in particular is great but the kitchen is very small b/c of a wall that stands between it and the living room. How can I determine if the wall is load bearing if I am unable to open up the floor to see the joists or the wall itself? I imagine a lot of potential home buyers run into this issue. Thanks!

Looking to build a roof to cover a deck. It cannot be built with trusses because of windows on top story. I need to know what size of lumber to use to span over a 12ft. deck.

I have removed plaster and lath in my old semi hallways and now that everything is open, I wondered if adding joist hangers to the joists that connect to the stair well beam will add any value - ie. strength and/or prevent them from sagging over time- before I drywall.

The second question is regards load bearing wall in my old semi. The joists span from one double brick wall to the other I guess I shouldn't assume I can remove a hallway wall to open up the 1st floor as many semi's have done. I know, I will get a structural engineer in :P

Hi

We are just renovating a new house we have purchased. As part of that we are knocking down a wall from our kitchen into the dining room. The wall does not seem to be load bearing according to all the advice given, there is not a wall directly above it on our second floor (although the bathroom dividing wall is a metre away in the same direction as downstairs, the joists run the opposite way to the wall etc but we have been given two different opinions from different experts. The joists above the wall are 9x3 and they run the whole way across so we think they are sturdy and this is the advice our expert gave us, that 9x3 are basically as good as you get for joists and therefore the wall is not load bearing.However we thought we would ask your opinion as well. What would be your advice?

I have a wall between my kitchen and dining room that I want to widen. There is a sliding door there now and I want to widen the doorway. There are thin metal beams and one 2x4 that I would have to remove. The wall runs parallel with the floor joists. I am pretty sure the adjacent wall is load bearing so I am thinking this wall I want to open up is not load bearing. Am I right?

I have a single story mid 70's slab foundation home in northern Florida. Common for the homes/area, each bathroom has a door separating the tub/toilet are from the sink area. I am wanting to remove the wall in the kids bathroom, it runs parallel with the joists however it is also at the part where the roof starts the small part of the L shape of our home. The bathroom is the end part of the main part of the house. The wall is about 4 feet long and does have electrical (which we plan to move anyway).

I have a wall in the basement that runs beside the stairway and along the floor joists. Each side of the stairway has a double floor joist. Would it be safe to assume this is NOT load bearing? This is below a kitchen wall. I can look behind this wall, and at the opeing to go under the stairs, there is no double 2x4 as a normal door opening would be expected

I have a ranch style house, which I believe it was built in the 70's. I have an interial wall that runs between my kitchen and living room, lengthways down the house. It is a small kitchen and a big walkway as long as the wall. The interior walls seem to be 2x4's turned sideways with no insulation and just drywalled. Can I take out that short kitchen wall to put up a counter/bar? There are cupboards on the other side of the wall. I dont want to take out the whole wall that runs the hallway to the bath and bedrooms just the part in the kitchen by the walkway.

Please help,
Brett

Hello Tim: I have a wall that at this point I am uncertain as to whether it is load bearing or not (to be determined) The question pertaining to this and any other future projects involving load bearing walls is how would I remove part of the support the wall provides and maintain the integrity? In this particular case I have a small bathroom that we are going to remodel and as part of the project I would like to install a sliding door, the kind that when open are into the wall void. Can this be done if the wall is load bearing? Obviously the wall doesn't need to be removed; in this case I would think two studs, though one of them would be the king stud on the one side of the bathroom door opening. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!

I am thinking to remove a pantry on my kitchen. after I took the dry wall down, I have noticed the doors of the pantry has a big header and a couple of 2 by 4 laminated together next to the door. It makes me wonder if the pantry walls carry some load for the house or not. If possible, I can send pictures and maybe readers from this web site as well as the web master can answer my concerns.

Hi

I am looking to knock down a small section of wall in my lounge, behind it is an unused large cupboard that goes under the stairs. The idea is to knock through into this cupboard to make some extra space in lounge. However we removed some of the plaster board to find solid bricks (not breeze blocks) the bricks only appear to go a little higher than the ceiling and do not appear to go all the way to the roof!

Could this be a load bearing wall? We dont believe it is as the bricks do not go all the way up, however if it is not a load bearing wall we dont understand why the bricks would be there.

Any ideas?

Many thanks