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load bearing wall under king post trusses

17K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  jimby 
#1 ·
I want to remove most of a wall that runs down the center of a ranch style house. The wall is perpendicular to and runs under about 16 trusses. It is obviously a load bearing wall, except that it's built under king post trusses. Do king post trusses eliminate the load on this interior wall? and can I remove it?
 
#3 ·
I've worked around trusses (even sold them) for years and can't tell you what a king post truss is. Can you clarify?

Removal of an interior load bearing wall of this magnitude will definately require the support of a structural engineer. The wall is there for a reason and the trusses' performance is likely reliant on that bearing point. The loads on that wall must be calculated and the header/beam that is installed in place of the wall must be able to handle the imposed loads. Additionally, the trimmer studs that support the ends of that new beam will place two very substantial point loads on the beam in or below the floor framing, and that beam must often be addressed in the process.

You'll also of course need to get the proper permit to do the work. This is a very involved job for sure.
 
#4 ·
From what I've read I was under the impression that an engineered truss is supported only on the exterior walls on either end of the truss. I suppose trusses could very well be engineered to rely on interior walls to bear some of the load. I have an interior wall at about the 1/3 mark of the span but i do not believe it is load bearing.

I guess your best bet is to get an engineer in to first determine if it is indeed load bearing, and if so, what the best way to go about removing it is.
 
#5 ·
Whereas your average truss for a very simple roof bears only on the exterior walls, it is very very very common for bearing points to be used in the middle of the truss or other points in the span. With trusses, you can never assume that there's no interior bearing. As suggested, and engineer is needed.
 
#6 ·
Thanks all. I'll call a structural engineer. A king post is a board that goes from the apex of the rafters down to the center of the beam. It's used as a support for the roadway on some bridges and a lot in post and beam construction for big, exposed ceilings. The latter example made me wonder if they supported themselves. If so, I could remove the wall under it because it wouldn't be load bearing.
 
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