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I want to take the interior wall down between my kitchen and dining room. How can I tell if it's load bearing or not?
Load Bearing or Not?
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It's an attic.
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Walls running parallel to the roof trusses are not load bearing, if the roof trusses run parallel on both sides of the wall.
Walls perpendicular to roof trusses, where there are identical trusses with no wall or beam to support them in other portions of the house, are usually not load bearing, but only someone with the skills to trace the load path (i.e. how does the weight of the roof, snow load, etc. get to the foundation) can determine that for sure.
That said, there's no header beam over the window opening, which is a good indication the wall is not load bearing.
Walls perpendicular to roof trusses, where there are identical trusses with no wall or beam to support them in other portions of the house, are usually not load bearing, but only someone with the skills to trace the load path (i.e. how does the weight of the roof, snow load, etc. get to the foundation) can determine that for sure.
That said, there's no header beam over the window opening, which is a good indication the wall is not load bearing.
It's hard to see from your attic pictures, but find out if the joists over this room run perpendicular to the wall in question, and/or if there's a 4x beam on top of the wall in question.
Just as mentioned above, the absence of a header over the window suggesting it's not a bearing wall.
Always double check.
Just as mentioned above, the absence of a header over the window suggesting it's not a bearing wall.
Always double check.
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The first truss in the picture is a gable truss but if the truss is above your wall is the same as the rest, you wall is not bearing.
Best if you move some insulation away from it first from above.
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Here are some more pictures
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Now that we can see it from the other side, one of those walls likely supports the ceiling joists in the room. The other probably doesn't support much, except a strip of the ceiling between the joist parallel to it and the wall. In other words, you probably can't remove those walls without replacing them with beams and a post at the corner, unless you're taking down the ceiling.
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Do you think an engineer would let them hang the ceiling off the trusses?
The drywall would be the same so it would just be the weight of the lumber on each truss?
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They are likely more out of balance now with drywall that are 75 pounds per 8 ft sheet. :smile:
Maybe, but without looking at what's carrying the weight and how it's supported now, it's impossible to say whether the load is unbalanced now or whether it would be after removing the walls. Presumably, there are short studs that connect the ceiling joists to the trusses in some fashion, so that there is something to attach the drywall to in that 2 or 3 feet above the ceiling. How sturdy those connections are, and how they affect the trusses, are anybody's guess at this point.
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Thank you all very much. You have confirmed my initial thoughts. I have contacted an engineer to have them take a look. I'll let you know what is determined. Thanks again!
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