Load bearing wall - how do ya know??

ocochugo

17 years ago

How do you know if it's a load bearing wall?

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Comments (5)

ron6519
17 years ago
Load bearing walls are constructed perpendicular to ceiling joists. The ceiling joists rest on a load bearing wall. In your basement(if you have one) there will be iron or wood posts that run in a line from wall to wall. That pattern will continue up through the house.
Ron
ocochugo
Original Author
17 years ago
Cool. Thanks again Ron. I'll have to check the basement out when I get in there. Cool. Thanks for that tip.
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When in doubt,get a consultation from a licensed structural engineer. it sounds like it's non-bearing, but we can only vision what a poster puts out there without knowing all the facts. That's why it's a better bet to get a consult from a pro who can hands on look at your project.
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No idea. :) But as a buyer, I would wait for the permits to be dug out of permit storage. Perhaps make an offer that is contingent on a satisfactory permit being located? If there is really no permit, offer less. Maybe after closing hire someone to do some exploratory wall/ceiling surgery (drywall repairs aren't that bad). A few years ago I purchased a home that had been similarly opened up (but a one-story, no basement--less scary). The "new" header was visible and it had been there long enough (and through enough decent earthquakes) that it didn't concern us structurally but a permit hadn't been taken out on it which in my neighborhood means nobody will touch it (except suckers like me). Made it a great buy though--I bet I would have had to pay $100k+ more if someone had just gotten a stupid permit. (Ask the buying/selling homes forum about your issue. They're usually pretty good.)
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Ok. Let me try this again. I have color-coded the drawing to help explain what I am asking. What I am trying to accomplish is to have the benefit of extra space without totally removing the load-bearing wall. With the island I would like to put in, I won't have a wide enough walkway if I line the load-bearing wall with cabinets. However, I was thinking that I might be able to keep the support from the load-bearing wall, place a pantry, closets or cabinets around the supports for that wall, and create a non-load bearing wall behind it. Sort of bumping the wall back without losing the structural integrity it provides and without the cost of removing it, especially because I would need to put up another wall between the dining room and kitchen, even if it is not as long. Otherwise, there is nowhere to put the fridge. This means I would lose some space in the dining room, but we don't use it more than 1-2/times per year. I am attaching some photos of my very ugly current kitchen to give you a better idea of the current layout. At this point, I am wondering if this idea has any merit before I move into other floor plans for the space. I really, really want the big island but am not sure if it is feasible. 1. View from dining room into kitchen: view from front hallway near stairway 3.kitchen from family room 4. view of load-bearing wall from kitchen toward the dining room 5. another view of load-bearing wall 6. from garage entrance into kitchen 8.from bay window area toward load-bearing wall If there are other views you would like to see, please let me know.
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Do the interior walls on these architectural plans look load-bearing?
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Hi all, Yes I get the risks involved, which is why I'm taking the time to try to get as much technical input as humanely possible before doing anything. Certainly it would have been much more risky of me to go right ahead and make structural changes without that. Repeating over and over that I shouldn't be asking the internet isn't doing anything. I appreciate those of you such as BobH, live-wire_oak, and jdesign_gw who actually share helpful, technical information for me to look into. To be clear, I've never planned to go ahead and dive into demo based on the conversations here. I didn't mean to give that inaccurate impression. This is just a sounding board to try to collect information. I am continuing to contact local professionals who can come see the house in person. C
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MariposaTraicionera
17 years ago
What if you don't have a basement? My bathroom is downstairs and I'm trying to find out if there is a load bearing wall, but without opening it all up, how can I find out close enough?
sierraeast
17 years ago
If your ceiling joists span exterior wall to wall, perpindicular walls are not load bearing. If the joists are spliced and land on that wall,they are still not necessarilly bearing, but you dont want to interrupt the splice.If you have access to your attic, you can see if there is any roof bracing landing on that particular wall,or any structural element indicatiating a load bearing wall.If no access, as in mariposatraicionera(phew!)'s case, you will have to cut out an inspection hole in the area of the wall enough to get a look to see if their is bracing, or any other element landing on the wall making it load bearing.

Properly supported bearings start from the foundation and travel on up. On a crawl space or basement,as ron stated,It starts at the footing or pier and is supported up through the floor,then posts or a wall, on up to the roof framing that is braced off of that. All supported down below at the foundation level. This is why trusses and engineered products such as i-joists have come in to play, because they span uninterrupted, making interior walls partitions rather than load bearing.
ron6519
17 years ago
mariposatraicionera, don't you have access to your attic? Do you have a pitched roof? Usually the ridge line of a roof will indicate the orientation of the load bearing wall(s). But not always. Sometimes the joists are switched in direction from the first and second floor. As in my house. Basement/first floor rafters run side to side with the two metal I beams running front to back. Attic floor joists run front to back to support the roof joist orientation.
If you're unsure, call in someone whos knows.
Ron

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Load bearing wall - how do ya know??

Comments (5)

ron6519

ocochugo
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Load bearing wall - how do ya know??

Comments (5)

ron6519

ocochugoOriginal Author

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sierraeast

ron6519

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ocochugo
Original Author