How to recognize a load bearing wall from the attic.
How to tell if a wall is load bearing attic.
Demolishing a load bearing wall could quickly impact the safety of your home as load bearing walls support the roof and are required to stand in place for the structural integrity of a home.
When joists trusses are perpendicular to the wall and bear o n the top of the wall that wall is bearing wall.
If there is another wall a floor with perpendicular joists or other heavy construction above it it is probably a load bearing wall.
Use the following steps to identify a load bearing wall.
Also notice how the non load bearing walls from the picture above are parallel to the wall framing in the picture below.
An example of a load bearing wall call be seen on the right.
If a wall doesn t have any walls posts or other supports directly above it it s far less likely that it s load bearing.
If the wall in question is parallel to the joists trusses it will likely not be load bearing.
An example of a non load bearing partition wall can be seen on the left.
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 you have remodeling plans that include removing or altering a wall you must determine whether the wall is load bearing or non load bearing.
If you don t have access to your attic you can always look at your.
Check the joists or rafters in your basement or attic.
If you answered yes to either of those questions the wall on the floor above is most likely load bearing.
It all depends on the shape of the house its size and the number of floors it has.
Without having the plans for the house on hand it is not always easy to recognize whether or not a wall is load bearing.
Making sure any wall you plan to remove isn t load bearing is incredibly important.
In the attic look down at the ceiling joists and ask yourself these.
If you don t have a basement or have a finished ceiling take a look at your home s structure from the attic.
Pay attention to what is directly above the wall.
This is also true when looking in the attic.
Finding load bearing walls is not always an easy task.
