Is this a Load Bearing Wall?

Are you dreaming of creating an open concept in your home? Are the walls between your kitchen and living room blocking what could be a fully integrated space like the shows on HGTV? Before swinging a sledge hammer, you must first determine which of your walls are load bearing. The more complicated question is, how?

Your home contains two types of walls: load-bearing (they are structural and receive floor, roof, or other loads) and non-load bearing (they support only their own weight, also considered partition walls). Partition walls can typically be removed without much consideration for the rest of the structure because they support very little weight. Removing structural walls requires structural renovations to the framing.

Almost always the exterior walls of a house are load-bearing, since they support the roof and/or brace the home from the wind.

So how can you tell if an interior wall is load bearing? Start in the basement. Most modern (1900’s and newer) homes in New England are cape, ranch or colonial-style, and the structural framing is typically simple. Interior load bearing walls typically are perpendicular to the floor joists and stack over a central beam and supporting lally columns in the basement. The referenced photo shows the basement of a colonial-style house with the center beam and lally columns identified. From just this photo, you can determine that the walls above the central structural beam are most likely structural walls.

Sometimes the framing layout is not as simple as mentioned above. In those cases, or if you are feeling uncertain of your own assessment, hiring a Professional Engineer can help give you peace of mind. Keep in mind that structural walls should never be removed or modified unless a proper structure to replace it is designed by a structural engineer. At Team Engineering, we deal with hundreds of these types of questions every year. Give us a call and we’d be happy to help you with your next open concept renovation project.