Walls and Ceilings - How can I tell if a wall is load bearing?
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JETMECH727
11-10-05, 09:55 AM
Hi,
I have a short wall seperating my kitchen from my dinning room. In this wall are an electrical outlet an return duct. I'd like to remove the wall and open up the two rooms. How do I know if it's load bearing?
I have a short wall seperating my kitchen from my dinning room. In this wall are an electrical outlet an return duct. I'd like to remove the wall and open up the two rooms. How do I know if it's load bearing?
rkoudelka
11-10-05, 10:10 AM
When you remove the wall, the ceiling will either sag, or it wont. If it sags, then it was load-bearing and you shouldnt have moved it.
-- ok, seriosly now...It depends on the situation, so if you cant tell based on your own knowledge bank, you should probably talk to someone who knows and can look the house over. Your load bearing walls will run perpendicular to your joists and parallel with your I-beams (support beams). They will also run on top of the support beams below.
If it runs aprallel to your joists , it wont bear a load (since only one joist would be on top of it- but check to make sure there are no special headers around. Check the attic, crawl spaces, basement, pull some rock off, do what ever you need to do to be able to see the framing - anyything else is guesswork.
In my house, as an example, when it was built, a load bearing wall was positions more than 3 feet away from the supports below it (cant imagine why) when i bought the house 50 years later, the floor had already sagged about 2 inches in that spot. I have since moved that load bearing wall and a couple of others so someone coming into my house looking to move walls really needs to take the time to see where the loads truly are.
Hope it helps.
-- ok, seriosly now...It depends on the situation, so if you cant tell based on your own knowledge bank, you should probably talk to someone who knows and can look the house over. Your load bearing walls will run perpendicular to your joists and parallel with your I-beams (support beams). They will also run on top of the support beams below.
If it runs aprallel to your joists , it wont bear a load (since only one joist would be on top of it- but check to make sure there are no special headers around. Check the attic, crawl spaces, basement, pull some rock off, do what ever you need to do to be able to see the framing - anyything else is guesswork.
In my house, as an example, when it was built, a load bearing wall was positions more than 3 feet away from the supports below it (cant imagine why) when i bought the house 50 years later, the floor had already sagged about 2 inches in that spot. I have since moved that load bearing wall and a couple of others so someone coming into my house looking to move walls really needs to take the time to see where the loads truly are.
Hope it helps.