I'm in the process of turning three rooms into one big room. And, like many of the posts, my question is on load bearing walls and headers. I'm just in the process of taking of some of the sheetrock and lathe and plaster (lots of layers, yuck) and am looking at what I have to work with. I've never actually dealt with load bearing walls before. Anyway, using common sense - any wall on the 1st floor running parallel to the floor joists of the 2nd floor and not supporting a crossbeam is not a load bearing wall, correct? There's another wall that runs perpendicular to the floor joists, but the construction of the wall is quite strange for one that bears a load. The wall is thin, the 2x4s (old, actual 2x4s) are turned sideways, if you know what I mean. And there is an approximately 40" doorway without a beam across, instead has a couple of short 2x4s turned sideways that are nailed to the top board that touches the joists and to a 2x2 board on the bottom that is above the doorway. I do suspect the wall to be bearing something though, as there is a large beam almost directly underneath in the basement, a wall on the 2nd floor directly above, and the span the joists run across is around 17 ft. I will get pictures up as soon as I can. Any initial responses? FYI, I'm being careful and slow and smart. ;)

Are there other ways to support a 28'' header [bearing wall] other than trimmers? Are joist hangers screw to the face of the stud or some kind of metal bracket a solution? Thank you