Attic Bearing Wall

Climb up to the attic.

Attic bearing wall.

A load bearing wall transfers load all the way down to the building s foundation. If a wall doesn t have any walls posts or other supports directly above it it s far less likely that it s load bearing. Sizing up the situation. If the wall is located directly under the attic you can go up there to study the positions of the beams and joists.

Load bearing walls support the weight of a floor or roof structure above and are so named because they bear a load. Find these by measuring or by studying a floor plan of your house. Installing the beam is a two person job. Look for these from the attic.

During home renovations non load bearing walls can be made to bear weight and vice versa. Every house uses load bearing walls to stabilize the structure and support the weight of the home above. Adding a room in an attic can change the entire load bearing status of the walls below. Walls that are stacked may be load bearing.

In a multi storey. For instance hanging or cutting ceiling joists adding stairways and adding attic rooms usually require the changing of non load bearing walls to load bearing walls. By contrast a non load bearing wall sometimes called a partition wall is responsible only for holding up itself. To confuse matters further some types of construction such as post and beam or steel girder may not have any bearing walls at all except for the outside walls.

This is also true when looking in the attic. In some cases you may not be able to tell for sure whether a wall is bearing. Lvl beams are heavier than standard lumber. Get help lifting them.

Even without a second story the roof weighs a lot and. The floors above roof structure people and furniture are the loads that the wall has to support. If there s an attic above the load bearing wall you want to remove and the roof is framed with trusses you can t bury a beam in the ceiling and will have to leave it exposed. Ceiling or floor joists that are spliced over the wall or end at the wall mean the wall is bearing.

Also notice how the non load bearing walls from the picture above are parallel to the wall framing in the picture below. If you don t have access to your attic you can always look at your. How to find a load bearing wall.