How do I determine what is a load bearing wall?

10/26/2015 at 5:21:11 PM

Truth be told the contractor should be able to tell which walls are load bearing or curtain walls. best is to check your basement for steel beams or poles for support. A lot of homes used this to create load bearing protection.

Remember all your outside walls are load bearing walls. Usually thicker walls are 9 times out of 10 a load bearing wall.

Try these tips and see what happens.

10/26/2015 at 6:05:48 PM

Open up ceiling and check it.

10/26/2015 at 6:36:20 PM

Generally, a load bearing wall run at a 90 degree angle tyo your trusses and is often in the middle of the house. It should be supported in the basement as it's primary purpose is to transfer the load from the roof down to the ground (basement). If you look i =n the attic, see if the trusses have a center beam ... which probably is your bearing wall.

10/26/2015 at 6:50:19 PM

On a single story house: If you look in your attic, first determine if you have a stick framed roof, if so, they rarely used centre load bearing to support the roof. Depending on the size of the home and the year of the home, there may be centre load bearing. If it is a new home with Engineered trusses, those are almost always exterior wall load bearing only.

On a two story house: it is a bit trickier, as you will have to open up the ceiling to determine the directional of the floor joists. If the wall is parallel to the floor joists, not load bearing. If it is perpendicular, you will need to investigate further as it is likely to be of some sort of load bearing.

All these should be easily determined by your contractor.

Good luck with the Reno.

10/26/2015 at 7:10:45 PM

Check the basement support beams the load usually follows or very close to that beam all the way up or you can cut a hole in the drywall at the opening of the wall you want to remove near a doorway if its a supporting wall the corner 2x4 will be doubled or tripled as well the top 2x4 will be doubled normally.

Good Luck. Your contractor should know this.

10/28/2015 at 5:41:33 PM

Any decent contractor will be able to tell you the load bearing walls. These are always thicker and perpendicular to the trusses. As well they are usually in the center of the house for the purpose of transferring load from floor to floor. In the basement they are usually supported by a visible steel support of some kind, almost always a pole.

Good Luck!!!

Kindest Regards,

Don Engler

Project Manager