Load Bearing Walls

-First off, let me say that I am not a structural engineer. Nor am I an architect. However, I feel compelled to address the issue of load bearing walls since I get so many questions about them.

-Why would you need to know if you are looking at a load bearing wall? Many home renovators and remodelers like to "blow out" walls or move them around in order to reconfigure their interior space. Often, this is considered during a kitchen remodeling project. For example, if you wanted to enlarge your kitchen and needed to take a wall out of the way, you would need to know if the wall in question was a load bearing wall. If it was bearing a load, you would need to find some other method for holding that load when the wall was moved.

-In my experience, if you do want to move a load bearing wall, there are ways to deal with the structural issue. You might reinforce the joists that run overhead, or you might put in a structural element like a column.

-How do you determine if you are looking at a load bearing wall? My advice would be to contact a structural engineer or an architect for their professional opinion. If you are considering a remodeling project that would involve modifying a load bearing wall, I would hope that you would be enlisting the aid of an architect anyway.

-Good luck with your load bearing walls or whatever your home remodeling project might encounter!