Load bearing wall??

[Daren Todd]

Quick not so easy question.

How do you determine if a wall is load bearing?

My lovely wife decided it's time to do a small remodel in the house.

Anyway, most of it is just cosmetic. Scrape ceilings, repainting, replacing 30 yo baseboards, ect.....

The one thing that has always bothered us is the galley kitchen. Everything else is wide open except for this area.

We've already decided to replace and redo the breakfast bar, and counter tops. And considering either raising the kitchen cabinets up by removing a soffit, or removing all together.

And ideally we would love to get rid of the wall and claustrophobic feeling.

A picture says it best

The issue is, we need to determine if this wall is load bearing. The house does have engineered trusses.

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[PHPaul]

I AM NOT AN ARCHITECT OR AN ENGINEER...so take this with a large grain of salt.

The wall above the breakfast counter is no problem, it's pretty obviously non load bearing.

The full height wall to the left is probably not load bearing as trusses are designed to span the outer walls and give clear space below.

The "probably" is both CYA and to account for the possibility that there is HVAC equipment above the ceiling in that location, or special trusses were used on that end of the house. If there's an access hatch to the attic, I'd have a look. If all the trusses are the same from end to end, then that wall is very likely not load bearing.

 

[Daren Todd]

I AM NOT AN ARCHITECT OR AN ENGINEER...so take this with a large grain of salt.

The wall above the breakfast counter is no problem, it's pretty obviously non load bearing.

The full height wall to the left is probably not load bearing as trusses are designed to span the outer walls and give clear space below.

The half wall over the bar is actually kitchen cabinets.

 

[Daren Todd]

Here's some attic pics. The 2x4 wall is the transition between the cathedral ceiling in the living room to the standard 8' ceiling.

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[BadDog]

You'll really need to get in that attic section to see. But with that vaulted sealing, I'm betting that ridge beam ends right at that horizontal wall and is supported through that corner wall section to the floor/slab/grade/basement/whatever. If the beam comes through on top of the truss sections so that they (more than one) support the weight to transfer to the walls, but I wouldn't want to even think about that without talking to an architect, preferably with original plans in hand (usually not likely).

If you are tearing out anyway, open up that wall. If it's a standard framed corner without extra headers in the top plate, probably not load bearing. But I'm betting that corner is formed forming a support for that ridge beam load.

Edit: You cross posted those pics while I was typing. But even there I can't see the important area, at least not that I can make out. What does it look like right under the ridge beam tie-in. In any case, getting advice here (or on a DIY forum) probably isn't ideal in this case. I push the limits of DIY on all things, and I think it's likely that you need a professional given what I think those pics indicate.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I think I remember from previous pictures of your house it is one story, so there is no second floor wall supported by the wall in the picture?
If that is an attic over the kitchen, is there any structure extending above the wall through the attic to support the beam at the peak of the exposed ceiling?

Well we were all posting at the same time. I agree with the comments of BadDog, you want to know how that ridge beam is supported.

 

[ironpony]

That is not a ridge beam, if you look at the pics there is HVAC above Those are scissor trusses from the attic pics. If all the trusses go from exterior wall to exterior wall, none of the interior walls are structural. Is this a modular home??

 

[Daren Todd]

I think I remember from previous pictures of your house it is one story, so there is no second floor wall supported by the wall in the picture?
If that is an attic over the kitchen, is there any structure extending above the wall through the attic to support the beam at the peak of the exposed ceiling?

The beam going across in the living room is purely decorative. It's just 3 pieces of 1x6 butted against the drywall and chimney. Knee wall in the attic stubs down between the two beams in the picture above for the wall between the kitchen/ dining areas and the living room. It's aboutique 3' between the peak and the ceiling height for the kitchen.

 

[BadDog]

That makes more sense to what I see in the pics. I saw the AC, but assumed it was run up between rafters. Out here most everything (that I've worked on) seems to be sheet rock on rafters for vaulted ceilings. So that's not a style of construction I am familiar with, so I'll butt out.

 

[Daren Todd]

That is not a ridge beam, if you look at the pics there is HVAC above Those are scissor trusses from the attic pics. If all the trusses go from exterior wall to exterior wall, none of the interior walls are structural. Is this a modular home??

House was built in 83. But yes, all trusses go from outside to out side walls. The only exception is over the garage where the pitch of the roof changes from north/south to east/'west.

 

[85Hokie]

House was built in 83. But yes, all trusses go from outside to out side walls. The only exception is over the garage where the pitch of the roof changes from north/south to east/'west.

D,

If all trusses go wall to wall - then you should be able to do almost as you wish. I did this to my house about 5 years ago - IT was a load bearing wall!

Notice the jacks - and the new header

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[D2Cat]

85Hokie, I like that California Knotty Pine!

 

[85Hokie]

85Hokie, I like that California Knotty Pine!

It most have been VERY popular around these parts in the 60's and 70's - cause everyone seems to have had it - or PAINTED it ( or tore it out)

 

[RCW]

Daren - I'm not entirely sold that the short kitchen doorway wall may not load-bearing. The other one, over the breakfast bar - get rid of it if you want.

Tough to guess from 1,000+ miles away, but it really may be decorative as well.

Is the truss structure the same over the full length of the house, except for the transition to the garage? If it is, tells me its not load bearing, since the next room has no support.

A way to tell is checking the framing around that door and wall, to see if they built it sturdy enough to carry the roof load to the foundation.

 

[RCW]

I like that California Knotty Pine!

Cat - that could very well be upstate New York knotty pine!

We produce a lot of eastern white pine here. The scrap found a purpose as T&G paneling many years ago, and was wildly popular 50 years ago. When I was in forestry school, there were a couple mills up north that did 3 million board feet/ year of just pine.

Jeepers - Hokie's paneling mighta come from the Adirondack Mountains!!

A lot of our good hardwoods go to the Carolinas for furniture manufacture - maybe Hokie shagged a load of crap pine for his house!! (I have some of it, too)

 

[Daren Todd]

D,

If all trusses go wall to wall - then you should be able to do almost as you wish. I did this to my house about 5 years ago - IT was a load bearing wall!

Notice the jacks - and the new header

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Can I pencil you in for the end of July to come over and do the baseboards and trim
We'll feed you some bbq and beer after the sawing is done

 

[85Hokie]

DONT tempt me !!!! I am a sucker for food ......and liquid refreshment !!!

Then again - if you cut like you paint orange, you aint needed no help!! YOU have this whipped in no time!

 

[Daren Todd]

DONT tempt me !!!! I am a sucker for food ......and liquid refreshment !!!

Then again - if you cut like you paint orange, you aint needed no help!! YOU have this whipped in no time!

My wood working skills aren't the greatest But to add to the enticement

This place is the bomb Best pulled pork and beef brisket in the state

http://www.wholehogconway.com

 

[skeets]

Ahhh helll cold beer and pulled pork,,, what a way to start the week

 

[Daren Todd]

So, here's what I've determined. The wall is partially load bearing.

And by partially, I mean that it supports the center section of the transition wall from the cathedral ceiling to the ceiling height for the rest of the house.

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