How To Tell If A Wall Is Load Bearing Attic

Check the joists or rafters in your basement or attic.

How to tell if a wall is load bearing attic.

You can do anything you like to a non bearing wall. If you answered yes to either of those questions the wall on the floor above is most likely load bearing. 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. Finding load bearing walls is not always an easy task.

If you don t have access to your attic you can always look at your. Use the following steps to identify a load bearing wall. 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.

If you don t have a basement or have a finished ceiling take a look at your home s structure from the attic. Without having the plans for the house on hand it is not always easy to recognize whether or not a wall is load bearing. However if there is an unfinished space like an empty attic without a full floor the wall probably is not bearing a load. Making sure any wall you plan to remove isn t load bearing is incredibly important.

How to recognize a load bearing wall from the attic. Also notice how the non load bearing walls from the picture above are parallel to the wall framing in the picture below. It all depends on the shape of the house its size and the number of floors it has. 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 the wall in question is parallel to the joists trusses it will likely not be load bearing. 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. In the attic look down at the ceiling joists and ask yourself these. But if you remove or even cut open a bearing wall you can literally bring down the house.

An example of a non load bearing partition wall can be seen on the left. This is also true when looking in the attic.