Attic Load Bearing Wall

If a wall doesn t have any walls posts or other supports directly above it it s far less likely that it s load bearing.

Attic load bearing wall.

Find these by measuring or by studying a floor plan of your house. How to find a load bearing wall. Have you ever asked yourself is that a load bearing wall let the load bearing wall pros show you how to identify a load bearing wall. This is also true when looking in the attic.

Load bearing walls support the weight of a floor or roof structure above and are so named because they bear a load. Also notice how the non load bearing walls from the picture above are parallel to the wall framing in the picture below. If you don t have access to your attic you can always look at your. When joists trusses are perpendicular to the wall and bear o n the top of the wall that wall is bearing wall.

Every house uses load bearing walls to stabilize the structure and support the weight of the home above. However if there is an unfinished space like an empty attic without a full floor the wall probably is not bearing a load. By contrast a non load bearing wall sometimes called a partition wall is responsible only for holding up itself. Ceiling or floor joists that are spliced over the wall or end at the wall mean the wall is bearing.

Most homes with trusses will not have interior load bearing walls because the structural load is dispersed outward loading the exterior walls vs the interior walls. If there is another wall a floor with perpendicular joists or other heavy construction above it it is probably a load bearing wall. Walls that are stacked may be load bearing. An example of a load bearing wall call be seen on the right.

However if the attic is intended for storage the attic live load or some portion should also be considered for the design of other elements in the load path. Foundation wall gravity and soil lateral loads headers girders joists interior load bearing walls and columns footings gravity loads exterior load bearing walls and. If your wall conforms to the situation shown you can be sure it s load bearing. If the wall in question is parallel to the joists trusses it will likely not be load bearing.

Learn more at http. Pay attention to what is directly above the wall. One final clue to get an idea if a wall is load bearing is if your attic has trusses or if it s hand framed.