Why do we have load bearing walls?
Load bearing walls allow us to frame roof structures “lighter” – with less material and therefor at lower cost. Every time you see a load bearing wall you can bet that its reducing the span of floor, ceiling or roof framing.
What are these walls really doing?
These walls are moving load from the top of the structure down to the foundation. The foundation can be the block or stone walls of you foundation or “pad footings” near the center of your home.
How do you identify a load bearing wall?
A load bearing wall can usually – usually be identified by how it interacts with the framing above it. If a wall bisects a section of roof, ceiling or floor, then it probably has weight on it.
How can you remove a wall if it’s load bearing?
Load bearing walls can easily be removed once we understand what type of forces are acting on the wall we can design a structure to do the same amount of work, but conforming to your aesthetic preferences.
Why is wall status given in terms of probability rather than just a simple yes/no?
When we are evaluating a wall with plaster or drywall on it we cannot be certain. This doesn’t mean that we don’t know – just that we cannot be 100% sure. If the home was built according to conventional techniques of that time then we can be quite sure of the results. But when homes are built in non-conventional ways, not conforming to typical standards or methods then our intuition gets thrown out the window. About 1 in 30 walls fall into this category. It’s not common but it does happen.
Can you be certain about a wall’s status?
Yes. If you are willing to remove finishes of the structure above the wall we can be sure. If you’d rather not go there yet, we can get you really damn close with a photogrammetry scan session.
How do you determine a wall’s load bearing status without removing finishes?
When a client wants a wall diagnosed and/or a design done we send out a photographer to document the home. Using a special camera to document the homes layout, these images get processed to make a BIM – building information model of your home. This is a model of your home that we can use to understand the relationships between walls from level to level. We can also use the model to measure distances and areas of roof planes, floors and walls. Given our understanding of home constructions throughout the decades we can reliably issue a status of a wall, an engineer’s letter or structural design.
If I have roof trusses . . . ?
Homes with engineered roof trusses (typically identified by metal gusset plates joining the 2×4 framing) that are spanned at 24-26’ typically don’t need a wall under them to perform. If however there is a floor above a “mid span” wall then typically that wall will be holding up some floor load.
If my roof is hand-framed . . . ?
If your roof is hand framed than the likely hood of your wall having “some load” on it is high. Typically an older hand framed roof’s weight will be distributed across the floor system below it. This is sub-optimal – but cheap – and it allows for some “charming” interior layouts, complete with cracking plaster and doors that shut easier and harder depending on the season!
In older homes the probability of walls being technically “non load bearing” but actually having some weight on them is high enough that we encourage people who are removing walls in older homes to treat “non load bearing walls” as if they are holding up some weight. We will typically design a light header that is small and easy to install just in case.