Determine Load Bearing Wall From Attic

You can remove a load bearing wall but you should never do it without consulting a professional builder or engineer.

Determine load bearing wall from attic. Load bearing walls cross roof beams in a perpendicular direction. Look for extra wall support. Additionally most home s exterior walls are load bearing. Look at the floor joists if you can see the floor joists either from the basement looking up.

Once you ve reached your house s lowest point look for walls whose beams go directly into the concrete foundation. A bearing wall is one which supports the structure of the house. While the joists and beams of your home are a good start to identify load bearing walls there are other options. If the wall in question is on the second floor look to see if there is a wall in the exact same place on the floor below.

Note the direction the roof ridge runs. Examine the roof structure from outside. If it is a small home usually roof framing is in one direction only north south or east west. The primary bearing walls in most homes are the exterior walls.

If you remove a load bearing wall without the proper planning it could quickly lead to disaster in the form of structural instability and ceiling sagging. Look inside the attic if possible to identify the direction in which the rafters or joists travel. If you have remodeling plans that include removing or altering a wall you must determine whether the wall is load bearing or non load bearing. You can usually get a copy of the.

A wall directly above those beams and any walls directly above those walls are probably load bearing. Take a peek at the instructions on how your house was built. Any part of a load bearing wall that is removed must be replaced with a suitable structural support such as a beam and or columns to bear the same load that was supported by the wall. If there is chances are the walls are load bearing.

You should see this at the foundation level whether wood. The best way to tell if a wall is load bearing is to go in the attic ceiling space to see if there is any framing joists rafers trusses supported by that wall. Reinforcement posts and columns are. Larger houses have more interior bearing walls because the spans are greater between the exterior walls.

Load bearing wall removal facts. Enter the basement and inspect the. Load bearing walls typically run in. If the wall is located directly under the attic you can go up there to study the positions of the beams and joists.