Whenever you are thinking about removing a wall or walls in your home, it’s smart to verify if the wall is load-bearing. But how do you find out if a wall is load-bearing? Fortunately, there are some quick methods you can use to identify load-bearing walls.
Just keep in mind, shortcuts like these are great to get a general idea. But if you are going to start knocking down walls, it’s worth talking to a professional first. Our load-bearing wall removal pros can answer your question with certainty and we can do it fast.
Quick Methods to Find Out – Is a Wall Load-Bearing?
Here are three methods you can use to find load-bearing walls:
1. Find out which way the joists run.
If you can see the floor joists above, you can see that all of them run parallel to one another across the ceiling. Now, look at the wall in question. Is it parallel or perpendicular to the floor joists above? If it’s parallel, it’s not a load-bearing wall. On the other hand, if it’s perpendicular, it could very well be a load-bearing wall. The fact that it runs perpendicular – at a 90-degree angle, or crisscrossed – means that all the floor joists sitting on it are supported by it.
Of course, if you can’t see the floor joists above, you need another method to tell if a wall is load-bearing.
2. Look at the floor joists in your basement or crawl space.
Second-story floor joists are not always visible. But if you can get under your house, like in the basement or crawl space, you will probably have a better chance of seeing exposed floor joists. The same idea in method #1 applies here. All of the floor joists will be running in one direction. If the wall in question is running parallel to these joists, it’s probably not load-bearing. However, if it runs perpendicular to the floor joists, it’s probably load-bearing.
3. Check to see if the wall attaches to the foundation.
This method is particularly helpful if you are in a house with additions. External walls are almost always load-bearing and attached directly to the foundation. But if the house has additions it can appear at first glance that a wall is an interior wall – even though it was originally an external wall. If you see that the wall is attached to the foundation it was most likely originally an external wall and is load-bearing.
Is My Wall Load-Bearing? No Need for Guesswork!
If you are wondering, is a wall load-bearing, we can help you find out. We know how load-bearing walls are designed and how to spot them. Not only can we tell you if it’s load-bearing, but we can also give you a free estimate on what it will cost for us to safely remove it. We remove load-bearing walls in Bountiful, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and all the surrounding areas.
Please give us a call at (385) 300-8322 or fill out our secure online contact form. We will get back to you shortly.