HELP...Non-load-bearing with double top plates???
#1
07-04-18, 12:01 PM
HELP...Non-load-bearing with double top plates???
Hello
Thank you in advance for all of your answers. I just need a little bit of help in making sure that this wall is not loadbearing. I am in the beginning stages of a kitchen remodel I received a inspection from a structural engineer telling me that the wall is non-loadbearing but this was before I started taking the wall down. I now have a good image of the interior of the wall and I am concerned because there is a double top plate on top of the wall that I want to remove
My kitchen is On the east end of the building the front of my home faces south and the kitchen is located at the east side of the home. The exterior wall of the kitchen faces east and the west wall of the kitchen is the interior wall that is common to the living room which is the wall that I want to take down.
The roof in my home consist of wood trespasses with OSB sheathing. The trusses bear on the north and south exterior walls the interior frame wall of the upper level of the home are non-bearing walls. My basement has a steel beam and column system that is oriented east and west and supports the main floor I joist. On the main level of the home the south framed wall of the kitchen is directly above the steel beam in the basement. This wall is a bearing wall that supports the upper level floor joists.
Thank you in advance for all of your answers. I just need a little bit of help in making sure that this wall is not loadbearing. I am in the beginning stages of a kitchen remodel I received a inspection from a structural engineer telling me that the wall is non-loadbearing but this was before I started taking the wall down. I now have a good image of the interior of the wall and I am concerned because there is a double top plate on top of the wall that I want to remove
My kitchen is On the east end of the building the front of my home faces south and the kitchen is located at the east side of the home. The exterior wall of the kitchen faces east and the west wall of the kitchen is the interior wall that is common to the living room which is the wall that I want to take down.
The roof in my home consist of wood trespasses with OSB sheathing. The trusses bear on the north and south exterior walls the interior frame wall of the upper level of the home are non-bearing walls. My basement has a steel beam and column system that is oriented east and west and supports the main floor I joist. On the main level of the home the south framed wall of the kitchen is directly above the steel beam in the basement. This wall is a bearing wall that supports the upper level floor joists.
#2
07-04-18, 12:06 PM
Group Moderator
Double top plates do not automatically mean it is a load bearing wall. The structure above the wall must be examined in order to understand if there is load on any given wall.
A double top plate is used anytime you have an 8 foot ceiling where 8ft precut studs were used. 3" + 92 5/8" + 1 1/2" = 97 1/8", which is the standard height of an interior wall. The 3" in that equation is the double top plate.
A double top plate is used anytime you have an 8 foot ceiling where 8ft precut studs were used. 3" + 92 5/8" + 1 1/2" = 97 1/8", which is the standard height of an interior wall. The 3" in that equation is the double top plate.
#3
07-04-18, 01:48 PM
Group Moderator
If you paid for a Structural Engineer that actually inspected your house and they said the wall was not load bearing I can't think of a more definitive answer. Certainly better than trusting strangers on the Internet based on a couple photos. But, it is common for roof trusses to span from outer wall to outer wall with all interior walls being non-structural.
#4
07-05-18, 04:38 AM
Another use of a double top wall plate is to aid securing two walls meeting at right angles. One of the two walls has the upper top plate short by 3.5 inches and the other wall has its upper top plate long by 3.5 inches. The overlapped area is nailed vertically. This makes a strong joint, especially if one wall is running parallel to the ceiling joists.
