Loadbearing walls
#1
Loadbearing walls
I need advice on determining if a wall is loadbearing without ripping out the drywall and inspecting. Is there an easy method to determine this? My home is a two story built 4 years ago, located in California.
#2
Look and see which direction your cieling joists are running. Walls that the joists sit on are normally load bearing. Best bet is to see if you can locate your blueprints,being your house is fairly new might be pretty easy to find, they should indicate all your load bearing walls.
#3
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 437
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Are you wanting to know about the 1st or second floor walls?
For the second floor, go up in the attic and look to see if the ends of the ceiling joists or rafters or trusses are supported on that wall. If so, it's load bearing.
For the first floor, you need to determine if there is a foundation/footing directly below the wall or if the second floor floor joists are supported on it (normally the ends, but there could be a cantilever condition) Usually, the joists will span at least 10' and intervening walls will not be load bearing.
If you can find out who the builder was, they should have the plans or be able to tell you who the designer/architect was and you can get a set from them.
For the second floor, go up in the attic and look to see if the ends of the ceiling joists or rafters or trusses are supported on that wall. If so, it's load bearing.
For the first floor, you need to determine if there is a foundation/footing directly below the wall or if the second floor floor joists are supported on it (normally the ends, but there could be a cantilever condition) Usually, the joists will span at least 10' and intervening walls will not be load bearing.
If you can find out who the builder was, they should have the plans or be able to tell you who the designer/architect was and you can get a set from them.