I think you are correct. It's pretty hard to be load bearing running parallel to the floor joists.
No wall above = no load. As long as the joists at the top and bottom are supported by something other than the wall in question, you should be OK.
Your lack of knowledge leads me to answer - Get someone to look at it.:thumbsup:When you say that the joists at the top and bottom need to be supported by something other than the wall in question, what do you mean? I'm a bit of a novice at this stuff, so sorry if it is a dumb question.
From what I can tell, the joists are supported by the external walls as well as a load bearing "spine" wall that runs down the middle of the house. Are there other supports I should be looking for?
is this a one story home? does the wall run parallel with the ceiling joists? (if no second floor)
It is a 2 story home with a basement.
The wall runs parallel to the floor joists (i.e., between the 1st floor and basement).
Not sure about the joists between the first floor and 2nd floor...
that is the last part of the puzzle. if the upper floor joists land on the wall... it is load bearing. you can also pull some drywall off of the wall and look at the headers in the wall over the openings, if they are heavy duty headers then chances are they are holding some weight...
if upstairs is carpeted you can bang on the floor and find the joists, it sounds hollow between the joists and solid over top the joists and the solid sound should be every 16" or 24" spaced from each other...
I just re read some of the posts here, since you do not have special re enforcement under the wall in the basement ( girders,piers,etc..) and the wall runs parallel with the first floor joists then the upper floor joists should in no way land on that wall. does the wall land on and follow a joist in the first floor? Even inside partition walls get a double joist put under them when I frame a floor system, at the least a single joist should be under the wall.I hadn't heard that before. If a wall is balanced directly on top of a joist, that means that it is load bearing?
agsmith,
very simply if the second floor joists are perpendicular to the wall then it is load bearing, if parallel to the wall then it should not be load bearing. It is true as jagans said that second floor joists USUALLY run the same direction as the first floor, however I have seen them in many cases run differently.
it is true that a load bearing wall should have a beam or support wall located in the basement to transfer those loads to the ground, however I have seen these features missing in some cases.
It is always best to have someone knowledgeable on-site to verify existing conditions. Open up the ceiling (start small then larger as needed) to verify the direction of the second floor joists.
Good luck!
so true .... :thumbsup:even then though the upstairs joists may run across the wall and be spanned to hold their own weight from the exterior walls so that does not always determine a load bearing wall either...