How do you find a support wall?

Question

My husband and I are home shopping and we are thinking about buying a house that may need a little work, and doing most of it ourselves. It got me wondering though, how does one go about identifying walls that are load bearing without already tearing it down?

Answer 1

The two previous answers are good options, but if you are in doubt, do not take out any walls without first getting advice from a builder or you could end up with a pile of rubble.

Answer 2

You have to look in the space above the walls and find out the size of the beams or joists. Measure the length of the span between walls. Calculate the load or just call any lumber yard to find out what your joists' maximum span & what they can support.

Then you will know if the wall you want to remove is needed.

If they overlap on your wall to be removed, they are load bearing.  

Answer 3

go in the roof and see if anything is ontop of them... like beams or timbers connecting to the roof... if they just have  a top plate and nothing connecting to them you should be safe.

Answer 4

Go toooo the basement..........

Look for beams supported by lally columns, or steel beams that span between foundation walls.  Above them will be your load bearing walls that reach to the floor above, or to the roof.

Answer 5

You are going to have to find which way the floor joists (if you have a 2nd floor) or the ceiling joists run.

If the joists are parallel to the wall (run the same way) and their is no joist resting on top of the wall, you do not have a load bearing wall. If the joists run at a 90 degree angle to the wall (wall is under multiple joists) Then it is load bearing. If this is a single floor house, look in the attic to see which way they run. Two story house, invest in a high quality stud sensor that will see through the plaster and map out the floor joists. In a house this vintage you might find blocking in between the joists. You then may have to pop a few holes using a long small diameter drill bit. You just can't look at the floor joists under the house and assume they run the same way as the ceiling joists.