We own a 55 year old Cape Cod 1 1/2 story home. In the upstairs I want cut into the part of the knee wall and put in a built in bed and build in dresser in the two bedrooms up there. I have seen a few on line and they look great and my boys would love them.

Right now the kneewall has 16 on center 2 x 4's. I would have to remove several of these for my project.

How can i tell if these are load bearing kneewalls? If they are I plan on building a header but if not I would just let them go. Any ideas?

Thanks.

John

 

Could you supply a pic? preferably from the attic side
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I'd just about bet they're load bearing.

 

I think his definition of "kneewall" is the wall in the bedrooms of caps that faces either the front or back of the house. Its a short wall that usually has wasted space on the other side where the pitch of the roof is coming down. There usually no more than 3-4 feet tall. It is not a kneewall by standard defintion.

Now on to the question. Is that wall loadbearing?

Well i would probably say no its not. Its just a wall thats built to give the bedroom a beginning and end so your not trying to stick stuff in that very little > . ive seen on many occasions when those walls are made into built-ins.

 

is your house similar to mine. if it is then they are not loadbearing walls.

 

I have a similar setup on the front of my cape. Originally the bedroom walls mirrored the high pitch gambrel roof. I put in a knee wall with built in storage drawers.

My wall is not load bearing. The roof load is supported by the front wall of the house. John, I suspect your setup is similar.

 

I always thought the wall in question supported the roof rafters in the middle............ guess that shows how much I know

 

Mark, there usually isnt a need to support roof rafters in the middle of a span. They should be sized for the load they carry. Weight goes from peak, down rafters to the front or back wall of the house.

 

1. What size are the rafters?

2.What are they spanning? How many feet from bearing to bearing?

3. How far apart are they spaced? 24" on center? 16"?

I guessing: 12' span and 2x4 rafters, and 24" o.c. Since everyone else has guessed and not me yet..... if so, they would be over-spanned by -5'. 2x6 = -3", but close enough.

Gary

 

Thank you all for your input on this.

I am attaching a picture of the knee wall area. I ripped down some of the old insulation that I was going to replace anyway throughout the knee wall on both sides of the house.


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The roof rafters are 2 X 6. They are spaced 24 inches on center throughout the ceiling.

The 2 x 4's that make up the knee wall are also spaced 24 inches on center with a couple exceptions where the door ways are leading into the knee wall.

The knee wall is 58 inches tall (I guess more of a shoulder wall than a knee wall). On the top of the knee wall you can see a 2 X 4. They seem to run the length of the top of the knee wall.

Unfortunately I couldn't get up there til' dark to take a picture. If helps tomorrow I can get one during the day to get a better look of the entire wall.

It was dark in there but I think I counted 18 of the joists and the kneewall 2 x 4's.

As you can see in the picture, the top of the kneewall is comprised of a 2 x 4 that is cut partially into the joists.

I can rip all of the insulation down (I was going to do it anyway) to get a picture if you think that would make a difference.

I am not sure how far the span is or what you mean by how far from bearing to bearing.

The width from one side of the room where a knee wall to the other side of the room where the knee wall is about 22 feet.

The length of the roof is approximately 40 feet.

I hope this helps. and as I said, I will try to add another picture tomorrow when I can rip down some of the insulation and get a better pic with daylight.

If the link to the picture did not appear automatically, I believe you can cut and paste the following link and it should take you there.


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Thanks again for you input.

 

Its hard to tell from the Picture, but are the roof joists notched over the top plate of the kneewall?

 

Joe, yes the joists are notched and the horizontal 2x4 running across the room are set into the notches. I'll try to get better pic and upload to a site which gives bigger views.

 

As the rafters are notched with a birds-mouth cut, they are bearing on the stud wall. Take another picture of the attic wall, from 8-10' away.
The problem with a header and jack studs is the point load bearing for the supporting jack studs, usually double floor joists under them to support the extra rafter and roof load above the header.

1. Span of floor joists under wall- bearing to bearing?

2. Size of floor joists?

3. Size of rafters?

4. Span of rafters? (horizontally not on slope)

Gary