Load Bearing Walls

Often when considering a renovation, homeowners wonder if a particular wall in their home is a structural load-bearing wall or not. When you are still in the early planning stage of your project, it would be prudent to consider the possibility that your wall is load-bearing.

Removing a wall has become a popular home renovation project as homeowners increasingly prefer open floor plans and more connected spaces in their homes. A common project is removing a wall to open a kitchen to an adjoining living or dining area and creating a better flow throughout shared living areas. Walls are also removed to expand bedrooms and bathrooms or rearrange living space. Because of the numerous factors involved, removing a wall is usually better left to the professionals.

It is an important thing to know because if it isn't load-bearing, then removal can be fairly straight forward and not particularly costly. On the other hand, any part of a load-bearing wall that is removed must be replaced with suitable structural support, such as a beam and/or columns to bear the same load that was supported by the wall.

What Is a Load-Bearing Wall?

Load-bearing walls support the weight of a floor or roof structure above and are so named because they can support a significant amount of weight. By contrast, a non-load-bearing wall, sometimes called a partition wall, is responsible only for holding up itself. Load-bearing structural elements carry, in addition to their own weight, the weight (dead load) of something above it. Which is where you need to look things such as:

·????????Floor joists from the floor above

·????????A wall above

·????????Roof trusses above

·????????A column above

Here are a few considerations for an interior wall removal project:

·????????Floor joists from the floor above

If there is a floor above the wall you want to remove, you will need to uncover the floor joists above the wall (either from above or below) and determine if any of the joists bear on the wall you want to remove. This can be determined by a visual inspection. Do the joists appear to end at, and rest on, the wall? Or do you see a longer joist running over the wall and ending further away at another (possibly exterior) wall? If the joists end on the wall you want to remove, then your wall is definitely load-bearing.

·????????Wall above

Is there a wall located directly above the wall you want to remove, on the floor above? If there is, then your wall is almost certainly load-bearing. To determine this without doing any demolition, simply locate the walls by measuring from common elements on each floor such as a stairway opening or exterior wall.

·????????Roof trusses above

If the wall you want to remove is on the top floor of your house, with only the roof or unoccupied attic space above, you will need to verify if it is helping to support any part of the roof structure. If your roof structure is made from factory manufactured roof trusses as most modern roofs are, it will likely bear on your exterior walls. Or your roof could be stick-built, meaning completely cut and constructed piece by piece on site. Either way, it is possible that the wall you want to remove contributes, in some way, to carrying part of the weight of your roof. To determine if this is the case, you will need to get into the attic space and locate the wall below. Similar to items 1 and 2 above, is there anything bearing on your wall, such as ceiling joists, columns or a wall within the attic space? If not, then your wall is probably not load-bearing.

·????????Column above

If there is a column bearing on your wall, then there should be a column buried in the wall you want to remove, and the load of that column should be transferred to a column under it right down to the foundation. If this is the case, you may be able to remove the wall, but not the column embedded within the wall.

·????????Is the Wall Parallel or Perpendicular to Joists?

Generally, when the wall in question runs parallel to the floor joists above, it is not a load-bearing wall. But if the wall runs perpendicular (at a 90-degree angle) to the joists, there is a good chance that it is load-bearing. However, there are cases where a bearing wall is parallel to the joists. In this case, the wall may be aligned directly under a single joist or bear on blocking between two neighbouring joists.

·????????Is a Partial Wall Load-Bearing?

If the wall is a partial wall, meaning it stops short of an adjacent wall, it may or may not be load-bearing. For example, the builder may have installed a microlam beam to span across the opening and carry the load above. Therefore, you cannot assume that a partial wall is a partition wall.

·????????Is an Exterior Wall Load-Bearing?

Exterior walls are walls that form the perimeter, or outer footprint, of a house. Exterior walls are almost always load-bearing. Where there are windows and doors, the walls include beams, or headers, spanning across the tops of the openings. Posts on either side of the openings support the beams.

A house will rarely have an entire stretch of an exterior wall that is non-load-bearing. It is possible to build a house this way, but it would come at a high financial cost. Often, homes that appear to have no supporting exterior walls still do have support in the form of steel or wooden columns interspersed between the windows. Because window glass and the exterior view take visual precedence, it is easy to miss the fact that substantially sized columns are in place.

·????????Is a Masonry Wall Load-Bearing?

A masonry wall would appear to be load-bearing since masonry is a solid, substantial, and exceedingly strong building material. But a masonry wall may or may not be load-bearing. The position of the masonry may point to its load-bearing capacity (e.g., is it on the exterior?). One type of masonry called manufactured stone veneer cannot support loads. As the name suggests, it is a decorative veneer, very lightweight, and prone toward crumbling under stress.

Foundation walls, which are typically built of masonry materials, are by nature load-bearing, as their primary role is to support the weight of the house.

·????????Is There a Support Structure Below the Wall?

If the wall is on the first floor of the house, and there is a basement or crawlspace below, you can check in the lower level to see if there is another wall or other supporting member (piers, beams, columns, jack posts, etc.) directly below and following the same path as the wall above. If there is no support structure below the wall, the wall most likely is non-load-bearing.

Also consider the possibility that the wall you want to remove contains plumbing pipes, ductwork (especially return ducts or small vents), or electrical wiring that may need to be rerouted. These items alone could make removing the wall more hassle than its worth.

These are some of the more common conditions to look for when evaluating the load bearing possibility of any wall being considered for removal. This should be done early in your project while you are in the planning stage. If you find out that your wall is load bearing, you will need to be creative and find another way to achieve what you are looking for, or else consult an expert and plan for additional costs.

Needless to say, if you decide to remove a load-bearing wall you will need to plan for additional costs and seek professional advice. Reach out to us at OraLabora for your next home renovation project.?