How To Identify A Load Bearing Wall From The Attic

Look at the floor joists if you can see the floor joists either from the basement looking up.

How to identify a load bearing wall from the attic.

An example of a non load bearing partition wall can be seen on the left. A wall directly above those beams and any walls directly above those walls are probably load bearing. 2 look inside the attic if possible to identify the direction in which the rafters or joists travel. An example of a load bearing wall call be seen on the right.

When a support beam is located directly below a wall you can expect the wall to a bearing one. If your house has a basement or a crawl space check under the floor for the location of the support beams. If the wall in question is parallel to the joists trusses it will likely not be load bearing. While the joists and beams of your home are a good start to identify load bearing walls there are other options.

You will usually find this near the center of the house and running the length of the house. When joists trusses are perpendicular to the wall and bear on the top of the wall that wall is bearing wall. If the wall in. Load bearing walls cross roof beams in a perpendicular direction.

Using this technique you ll get a better idea of the location of the load bearing walls in your house. Due to the triangular shape of all but. Climb up to the attic. If they run perpendicular to the wall in question.

You can usually get a copy of the blueprints from your city or county clerk for a small fee. Check the joists or rafters in your basement or attic. If the wall in question is on the second floor look to see if there is a wall in the exact same place on the floor below. If there is chances are the walls are load bearing.

If the wall is located directly under the attic you can go up there to study the positions of the beams and joists.