Load Bearing Wall Framing Basics - Structural Engineering and Home Building Part One
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
- www.homebuildin... Click on this link if you're interested in a few more of the videos I made on structural engineering, home building and construction. This video will provide you with what I consider to be a simple view of how a load bearing wall works along with a few structural engineering points on home building. The most popular video to date I have made has to do with providing a few tips about load bearing structural walls and this will be the first in a series of related videos to provide more information for do-it-yourselfers as well as professionals. Don't forget to check out some of our other videos and visit our website for more information about construction and remodeling.
I'm hoping my comment will help in some way, sometime, to anyone watching your videos. If a home owner can get their hands on any (or preferably all) of the paperwork that has to do with the building of their original structure (and/or subsequent additions), they'd have a gold mine of structural info. I've read through many of the questions here - I grew up around a truss company, my parents still own and operate a truss company in Central Florida and I worked as a truss designer and engineer for over a decade. I know GC's keep info on houses built for a long time and that info could have (should have) the engineering sheets for each and every truss on the home. The engineering for the trusses will show exactly what is bearing where, what is holding up what, how much of the loads were overkill (this happens far more often than folks might think, we called it CYA when I was in the business) and so much more. If only the truss company name can be found, the home owner can contact them directly and ask for a copy of the engineering. I'm sure more info is kept longer these days since nearly everything is digital now so folks have a far better chance of actually locating their home's building history. I feel as if I'm stating the obvious but I can't tell you how many times I've regretted not saying what's on my mind (if it's legit and possibly helpful) only to find out that I should've said something :-/ I believe what you're doing here is truly terrific considering you're offering advice and lessons that most people charge hundreds and thousands of dollars for. By the way, I want to add that the figures and crazy numbers all over engineering and floor plans and such is very complicated and I want to encourage folks to not feel inferior or stupid because even the best truss designers can't tell you what much of it indicates. As home owners who've paid already for the services rendered, I'd suggest that a home owner request a sit-down with the affiliated engineer for either the truss company or the GC, and ask as many questions as it takes to understand what you want to know. Good luck! ~jlt
I own a simple mid ‘50’s ranch style home. A basic rectangle with a load bearing beam running the length along the center line of the house. Does not get much simpler!
Best video on here!!!! Thank you for your patience in explaining this topic and using pictures and a common term we all can understand.
Great work man. Cant believe you did all this 10 yrs ago. Just Amazing.
More to come!
I would add a couple comments.. A load bearing wall is not only a gravity load bearing wall, it may also be a lateral load bearing wall. There are many ways to determine if the wall is a lateral load bearing wall. On of the most common ways to determine if it is a lateral load bearing wall is probably by looking at the floor plan; since the exterior walls are typically load bearing walls the distance between the exterior walls is a big clue. If the distance between the exterior walls (wood construction) is fairly large something like 30' or so then there typically needs to be an intermediate wall that will likely be placed down the middle. This middle wall helps transfer wind load to the foundation. In summary a buildings structure needs to be stable in both the vertical and horizontal directions (vertical = gravity loads and horizontal = lateral loads). Home owners should consult with a licensed engineer to determine if walls are load bearing or not. Engineers will likely charge anywhere between $60 - $80 per hour so a total cost will likely be about $120 - $200. If a report is required the total cost may be $300 - $400. Of course one should shop around for an engineer and choose one based on experience and rating.
so glad your informing and intimidating on this subject. I've seen contractors remove too many interior walls and wonder why their 2 story project is cracking up.
should do one onload bearing and non load bearing trusses to inform as well.
These non-load bearing walls help to minimize or decrease buckling phenomenon of the ceiling. They also help the stiffness of the building, at the axis that goes along the length of these walls.
Watched a part of your video and this is basic engineering that we learned in HS and helping friends and family build sheds and additions.
Yes, that's probably why I put the word basics in the title, but glad that you stopped by.
Hey Greg, Awesome videos really informative learned alot from them..... Thank you Greg for taking the time to put these videos together!
You bet and thanks for watching.
This is really good to understand how structures work. Thank you sir.
You are welcome
Your most popular video. I am building a passive solar shed/skillion/mono slope roofed cottage. With block piers and masonry north wall and post and beam square notched timber frame. Figured I would watch your most popular video and leave a comment.
Love your style of splaining
By the way I just wanted to say nice video it was very well done and I truly could see what you were trying to say when you spoke about the profile of the schematic structure you were speaking about when you were trying to explain how the weight in a building transfers it's weight.Thanks for listening
You've got a good point about the concrete footing, but this is how we've been doing it for years and there are plenty of homes built in the United States where a non-bearing wall connects directly to the ceiling joists.
Interesting and good to know. In case someone wants to take a wall out. :(
Mech eng here, the load is still getting transferred onto the concrete floor from what is termed as 'non load bearing wall'.
I appreciate the videos. At about 6:24 in the video, the force arrows in the rafters and ceiling joists in the same direction (out towards the soffit. Vertical loads down on the roof put the roof rafter in compression (as well as bending), and the ceiling joist in tension (restraining the rafter end from moving outward) The ceiling joist also resists any loads it carries such as the ceiling and attic live loads. This is primarily carried by bending resistance in the ceiling joist (flexural resistance between supports). Perhaps you could revise your arrow indicators to better reflect this?
+Ted Lane My main objective here is to keep it simple and focus on loads only. However, can always make another video. What exactly would you like to see in the other video?
Didn't mention sheer walls. They don't carry gravity load, they keep the house from being blown over by a storm. You don't want to remove one of them either.
Say it this way. If the wall is running parallel to the ceiling joist and have no braces going to a hip, valley, ridge, purlin (the roof) on top of it, you have a very good chance that is a nonload bearing wall. If a wall has ceiling joist above it and the roof is a cut roof (not trusses), That is a load bearing wall. I say it that way because the size, span, and spacing of the ceiling joist could very easily make that a load bearing wall. Not always, but most of the time. Thank for the video.
Obviously you know what you're talking about - but I'm afraid newbies are going to be confused by the diagrams. My advice - if you (homeowners) do not know how to determine a load path ( the path by which weight is transferred from the roof - through the structure - to the footers (and the earth) - then please contact a structural engineer to help you. Because there are so many ways a building can be constructed, it's very dangerous to make broad generalizations about what walls may or may not be load-bearing. You really have to start with the uppermost structure (the roof) and follow the load path down to the footings/earth to figure it out. I've framed dozens of buildings that don't conform to the rules-of-thumb - the designer may have turned the floor or ceiling joists 90 degrees to take advantage of a shorter span.... there may be roof or floor trusses which actually DO require a center support. There could be walls that are perpendicular to the eaves (usually not load-bearing) that are in-fact carrying a floor load, or maybe a concentrated point load from something like a second-floor master bath or a complex roof structure. There are just too many variables and "gotchas" to make assumptions or generalizations. Best practice for a DIYer - assume every wall and every construction is load-bearing until you determine that it isn't. You'll never get into trouble being too conservative. Then - once you determine that a) there is a structural load at-play , and b) the size of that load... .then you can design new structure to safely transfer that load to the building footings/earth.
I think you covered everything and for any newbies who are confused with the diagrams, feel free to contact me or leave a comment in the comment area. There are lots of good points in this comment and it is greatly appreciated.
A wise man speaks 😎😎😎💪💪💪
really grt points..
Couldn't have said it better. You really hit it and where did it really well for the homeowners because they don't understand a lot of the stuff. And it is good to have the knowledge out there for them to be able to spot if they're contractors doing the right thing or the wrong thing.
Informative to a point. I would like to have seen what a Load bearing wall is not. He said maybe and might a lot. Clear on a few points muddy on the rest.
I understand and I'm using those words, because it's difficult to make a video that will provide everything you need to know for every building.
It is a very intersting video, it shows whta we never tough existed in construction ( load distributon) thank) you
you are the man
great idea! can't wait to see the whole series
Another invaluable channel, will definitely explore more videos from you, sir. thank you!
Awesome.
Thank you for taking the time to make these great videos.
My pleasure!
Thanks for the effort in making these videos with diagrams and pics.... the more people can see and understand then maybe there would be less questions after they studied their structures? Anyways, knowledge is power and if I could request more of these sort of structural vids with some variations such as foundations and different soil types and how they manage loads etc. thanks again.
Oh and trusses!!! You must get a ton of questions on that topic. Cheers
good job no bs just the facts nailed it
Awesome.
good job on the video you gave a really good illustration....even for newbies
Comments like yours are always sincerely appreciated and thanks for watching.
Two thumbs up. Many thanks!!
Nice guidance buddy.. Thank you. This is crucial information.
My pleasure
How we fix a pylon to concrete? It's for reforce the second level floor and their joists, my plan is put two pylons join to the wall and include one joist between them, thank for yours videos.
I would need more information or a drawing.
Love this video. I've been out of new home construction for over 8 years and I'm trying to get back into it. Any advice is more than welcome. Thx
nice ...tq sir u explained in brief
So nice of you
Really enjoy your tutorials. Great Job
Glad you like them!
Thank you for this great video !
Glad you liked it!
Would like a video on how to replace sections of top plate in a load bearing wall in place when you can only get to one side.
It's on my list.
Great video
Thanks for letting us know and I'm glad you liked the video.
Dead load is the weight of all permanent members.Then there's live load that's the overweight people plus temporary members times double estimated bearing load.Then you need to add in wind loads for set elevation of your site location
easily explained ! great stuff . holyshhh - bit confused on why you'd want two walls so close to each other to do one specific job ?? why waste room having two walls to do a job acting as a load bearer when only one's needed?
cheers
Remember this is an example and used for educational purposes only. The placement of the walls would not be to scale.
This was an awesome example and thank you very much!
You're welcome and comments like yours are always sincerely appreciated. Thanks for watching.
great video!!! love all your other videos too, great topics and value!!!
Thanks so much!
Very well explained.
Glad you think so!
i would think any walls that are added AFTER the rafters are on would non-load bearing but i may be over simplifying things quite a bit
I would think so also.
If the wall is attached to the ceiling joists it is countering gravity of the roof and bearing a load whether you want to call it load bearing or not. Whether the joist extend the width of house or joined together is irrelevant. The only way to see if the plan requires this wall to support the weight would be to look at the original calculations. Just because you call it load bearing or non-load bearing doesnt mean you'll overcome basic physics
If you're suggesting that some building components will transfer more weight then you're basic physics could be correct.
Would using a light weight metal roof in place of the current heavier concrete tile roof effect the current cement block load bearing outer walls ability to withstand 140 mile winds of a hurricane.
My concern is that the current roof weight transfer to the outer walls adds strength to these load bearing walls. Your comments will be appreciated.
It's difficult to suggest a right or wrong answer, because it would depend upon how the building was constructed and each component fastened together. With that said, I think you have a good point, I just don't know how relevant the weight would be if the rest of the building was constructed poorly.
Wow! I learned a lot. Thank you greg!...I'm subscribed!...BTW, I can't seem to find the "Playlist" for these series "Load Bearing...".
www.homebuildingandrepairs.com/playlists.html I might not have one, but here's our playlist group and maybe wall framing might be the playlist.
@@gregvancom THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!
great works and Love it
Thank you! Cheers!
This is exactly what I needed to clarify an argument with my father-in-law over the "load bearing wall" he would like to get rid of but can't. It's definitely not a load bearing wall, haha.
Don't be too hard him.
This guy doesn’t know what he is talking about! Whenever a load bearing member (ceiling joist in this case) is bearing directly on top of another member (what this bloke is calling a non load bearing wall) that member becomes load bearing. No ifs or buts about it. The site photo also shows the “non load bearing wall” to have a lintel about the door opening, this means that the wall is load bearing otherwise it would have just a standard trimmer. Don’t listen to this blokes advice, he is incorrect!
Well-explained, thank you!
You're welcome and thanks for watching.
Can you show a diagram on how to connect two roofs together for a log cabin? In an "L" shape, the first truss on the left side of the horizontal stem of the "L" is on the load bearing wall. The walls on that addition are all horizontal logs. The logs will settle, so the roof connection needs to allow settling or it will pop apart and the metal will tear. The walls on the main part if log cabin have vertical logs that aid in support and don't settle. At a loss. It was not done correctly. A "master roofer" cut the engineered truss as he said it was higher than the others. It was designed that way to allow for settling. Another guy (framer) replaced it with laminate beam and built truss on top of it. But didn't tie it in to allow for movement.
I'm not familiar with only one side of a log cabin settling. Send me some pictures of your project and I will see what I can do. You can get our email address at the website.
gregvancom emailed you few days ago. I will get pictures for you. Thanks!
Thanks for the explanation. Great video!
My pleasure!
great video - well explained - thanks
Very welcome
great video. very informative. thank you.
You're welcome.
For a small 1 story brick house what is a typical slab thickness and footing thickness?
Are most houses constructed with the ceiling joists running perpendicular to the ridge line? My old 1924 bungalow has the joists running parallel with the ridge. They have the joists tied together with 2 x 4s that criss cross, holding the front and back walls in.
bg147 Most ceiling joist run perpendicular to the ridge and I would imagine it has a lot to do with saving money. It cost more money to run the rafter ties in the opposite direction than it would to use the ceiling joist as rafter ties.
okay, so to find out if it's load bearing is if it has ceiling joists on both ends that means I have to uncover the stucco to see if the joists are LB. excellent, thanks!
There's a good chance that it will be a loadbearing wall if the ends of the ceiling joists are sitting on top of it. Now for the bad news, if you can't actually see the framing, then it will be difficult to tell whether it's loadbearing.
i'll definitely check, also, based on this vid there's a good chance I can get away with cutting the studs, since the studs are only on the upper floor and don't go down to the foundation, and I've been wanting to rip out the cieling for a while to rewire the whole thing anyhow, that's when I'll confirm if they're LB or nor. :)
gregvancom what are the purpose of a loadbearing and non bearing?
Nana Baffour if you take off a loadbearing wall, the building will likely collapse.
Nana Baffour Loadbearing walls hold up sections of the home like your floors and roofs and provide extra strength to prevent them from blowing over under strong winds or something like a hurricane.
The rafters are most often not parallel to the load bearing ceiling joist, correct? I have a home that is small and very similar to the home depicted in this video. I want to raise the ceiling in my living room to the rafters. However, the loading bearing ceiling joist is perpendicular to the rafters. I'm unsure of the structural component of the medial ceiling joists that span perpendicular from the exterior wall to the load bearing ceiling joist within the center of the home. I know they are connected to the rafters, but as I mentioned I'm unsure if they are only for the drywall to be attached or if they actually provide some structural component. I can see now that the answer will most likely be, "it's possible, consult an engineer".
Doctor Doom You guessed it, I can't give structural engineering advice and suggest going to this link video.gregvan.com/house_framing.htm to see if you can find some more information, also check out the engineering links on the same website. I do have some good news though, if the ceiling joists aren't being used as rafter ties, then there's a good chance you will be able to remove them, but they could be providing structural support to other parts of the building. Feel free to send me some pictures if you want by visiting the website and going to the contact page for our email address.
Question! If a home has a basement. Would the footings simply be extended even further down? Or would the box of cement that is the basement, be sufficient?
Yes, footings should be at bottom of house or basement.
my contractor poured a concrete footer 24" wide x 20" deep and set bent rebar into it to tie to the slab, the edge of the slab was in the middle of the footer. hope this makes sense, it looked over done.
+sonofthunder 333 It's hard to say if something is overdone, without a picture. Feel free to send me one or be glad that it wasn't poorly done. I feel your pain though, because I've came across plenty of projects that were definitely overbuilt.
to late for a photo, but i just saw a commercial building footer that was 24x24, mine is 24x20, so im sure it will hold just hate to be paying for unnecessary material.
I worked with a structural engineer who used 15 inch wide x 24 inches deep footings with four number five rebar's for a single-story homes, small single-story home, with 8 foot ceilings and 22° roof pitch. I thought this was a bit overdone, but since I'm not a structural engineer, would have a difficult time making a reasonable rational argument.
quite important vidio to me! thank you very much sir.
Yaregal Mengistie you are welcome and thanks for watching.
gregvancom it is my pleasure.
Batune serahaw ende?
Do the footings need to run the length of the wall if a pole structure is being built? I would assume the weight is distributed down the rafters and down the poles so footings in between the poles would not be required.
I've seen plenty of pole buildings built with individual footings used to support individual posts, but I'm pretty sure a structural engineer would love to see a solid concrete foundation tying all of those individual footings together.
Grate video. I am considering to remove the wall between garage and living room. That way I would get bigger living room. Also , the chimney is on the way. I am thinking to remove chimney too. I am not sure if chimney removal would be the smart decision. Pleas help me to make right decision. Thanks in advance
That's a tough one and probably one I can't help you make. Some people like fireplaces and in some areas they need them to keep warm. It can also lower or raise the value of your property when you go to sell it.
When using a crawl space. Does a load bearing wall have to be over the girder? or can the load be transferred from the load bearing wall to the floor joists, then to the girder a few feet away?
You're welcome in the next video is already to watch.
I have a similar wall with joists similar to @4:40 (joists travel from brick to brick) BUTT ... I have an additional floor above and then a flat roof above that. In my instance ,Would it be considered load bearing? Seems as if it is suppose to be
Load bearing is usually a wall with weight transferring from materials above it or connected to it.
GOOD VIDEO
Thanks!
Seems pretty simple to me.
Great job on schooling us. My house was built mid 50s. small dining room had a wall but ex took it out and made it a bar with countertop. door frame remained. I remove the bar area so that has opened the dining room to flow into the kitchen. The door frame remains. Is the one stud that I need to remove (looks like a 3×3) load bearing? House is 1 1/2 stories. Thanks for any help.
Great video. The illustration shows the interior load bearing wall not centered directly under the ridge board. I’m designing a cabin the exact same way. Does the interior load bearing wall have to be centered?
No, you can move it and adjust lumber sizes for span difference in rafters or ceiling joist if needed.
@@gregvancom thank you!
thank you for this video it's helping my joinery studies. have you or could you do videos on types of foundations such as strip, raft, pile with details on them as this is a area we are studying. thank from UK
You're welcome and don't forget to say hi to the Queen when you see her for me.
I have a set up almost identical to what you showed, and in fact do have a load bearing wall which I would like to remove. The ceiling joists are 2x6 and lap over the wall I want to remove. A contractor told me because most of the weight is transferred to the outside walls, we can through bolt sister boards on each side of the lap on each joist, which will make up for the support the load bearing wall provided, and then remove the wall. What are your thoughts
+Andrew Smeigh I'm not sure that method would work, but would need more information. Remember I'm not a structural engineer, but I am real familiar with most of the construction practices used by them. Feel free to send me some pictures or a drawing.
Would it not be more structurally sound to place the exterior wall in the center of the concrete footing? Or will it make no difference?
I think it would be better and was common practice years ago, but they also didn't always use rebar and concrete rated much above 2500 psi.
I have a pillar by my kitchen island that i want to remove, went into the attic and it looks like the beams are sitting on top of it, but not overlapping each other. Will it be considered a non bearing load? Thanks.
I can't provide engineering information for individual projects, but can tell you that it might not be.
This was great.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching.
This is great information. I am going to build a free-standing ramada (12' x 15'). A structural engineer told me the 18" piers in each corner would be adequate to support the large tile roof. The footings will extend 4" out at the base and the piers will be constructed with cement blocks to the top and reinforced with rebar. (whew!) How deep should these footings be? I live in Arizona with no frost to be concerned with. )BTW, the roof calculates to be around 3000 lbs.and will sit on a steel beam header).
Nice video!
So with a center partition wall (is load bearing) being removed and new LVL beam going in. Will I need to put a coloum and thicker footer underneath new opening in basement?
Probably at least need the column.
i would like more viedos like this too learn from
Can you explains a floor plan for a concrete house, do we need to have columns on each corners or each joins,
Concrete homes can be built in different ways. Sometimes you will use columns and sometimes the roof system will be supported by the exterior walls or interior walls. Let me know if that didn't answer your question.
Wow, I am glad I found your videos :) Can you create a video about the alternative of using steel to reinforce an existing under-engineered wooden beam. I won't make the change myself but I want to be informed when I get a recommendation & quote. Thanks again for what you have already provided! Rob (REPLACEMENT with steel, as another alternative, would also be interesting but I don't want to ask too much.)
Send me a picture or plans and I will put it on my list of videos to be made in the future. You can get our email address at our website.
How do you control some sofe ground with footings to support a level building ?
If you have soft dirt, then you can use form boards to block dirt from going into areas that will be filled latter with concrete.
I understand that load-bearing walls transmit the load from the roof all the way down to the ground slab and then the footings underneath. I do not understand that the middle wall - without a footing - does not have any load on it. It is tied to the ceiling and surely some load (albeit perhaps, a small fraction) must be transmitted thru it to the cement slab. Why can only footing supported walls be considered as load bearing?
You make a good point and that there would be a certain amount of load transferring through these walls, but the joist or rafters would be engineered to support the weight, without the center wall. For example floor joists can sit on a variety of different walls throughout the home and these walls can transfer some of the weight to the foundation, but wouldn't require a footing, because the load would be designed to transfer to the end of the floor joist or other load bearing walls throughout home. Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I can always make another video.
If non load bearing wall is installed fairly tightly under the ceiling joist , .is it not bound to take some of the load due to settlement over time ?
Richard Budgell You're absolutely right and there are plenty of non-loadbearing walls that are actually supporting other parts of the building. I've seen people remove non-loadbearing walls, creating longer ceiling joists spans, only to find out years later that the ceiling is sagging.
Thanks for that Grevancom
You're welcome.
thank you very much this is very helpful
You're welcome and thanks for watching.
Son-in-law removed the wall separating small kitchen from living room in a 1984 Manufactured home. Living room and kitchen have peaked ceiling. Now it's a 'great room'. Kitchen wall that was removed had stove against it, and cabinets. Does this sound o.k.?
Good video,,,just teach it brother, let it flow
Thanks
so in a basement if you have a main beam in the center with joists over lapping chances are that Any wall above that would be a LBW?
No that's not true. Load bearing walls and support beams transfer weight from above, but the structural members and framing components below might be used to support something else. Let me know if that doesn't make sense or feel free to ask another question.
if you were wanting to extend out the exterior wall (like to make the corresponding room larger) how would you extend the ceiling joists and transfer the load farther out?
You're talking about a lot of work here. You would basically need to redesign the building. This would require structural engineering and additional work to the foundation. If this is something you're interested doing, contact a structural engineer, general contractor, building designer or architect in your area for more information.
definitely subscribing. great content
Then in that case, let me be the first one to welcome you to my channel and don't forget to tell others about it also.
Are closets considered load bearing? I have a small bedroom with a closet that I would like to remove. I would think the wall separating said bedroom from the living room would be the load bearing wall here and taking out the closet would have no effect on that wall or the structure itself?
crystalwolf2006 Closets walls can most definitely be used as loadbearing walls.
OK so i have a question. have had two different answers from others.....I own a 50 year old ranch dimension 46 x 26 so i took down a wall that had an opening between the kitchen and the living room. The wall ran perpendicular to the the joists but the joists are not split they are solid single run joists from exterior wall to exterior wall spanning 46ft. In addition, the perpendicular wall i took down did not have a header where there was an opening it only had 2 2x4s running the length of the wall. so based on your video and explanation this would not be a load bearing wall. Correct?
It could be a loadbearing wall, but it would be difficult to tell, because I don't have any building plans for your particular project. However, if you're telling me that you have 46 foot long continuous ceiling joists, without any breaks, then you could be dealing with a loadbearing wall. Feel free to send me some pictures, by visiting our website gregvan.com and scrolling to the bottom of the page for contact information. I don't know if I can help, but I will do my best as always. At the least, I could probably tell you whether or not you need to contact a structural engineer.
Greg, at 3:35 you start talking about a non-bearing wall that can serve a purpose aside from just separating space. Its sounds like you are saying non-bearing walls can be structural members of the house. Am I right? If so can you give examples of a non-bearing wall that can make a house lean if removed? Thank you!
I will try and make a video to provide you with more information and for those reading this in the future, the title of the video will be, "Can removal of non-loadbearing walls make building lean?"
Yes, non-bearing walls can be structural.
Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply and post. I am about to enjoy the vid.
PMFJI - your question wasn't really answered. That wall in question may it be carrying any normal static building loads - but is sure could be serving as some kind of a buttress or shear wall assembly that is providing lateral (sideways) loads such as wind load - or resisting spread from rafters pushing the top plates down and outward moral of the story. - better safe than sorry , have an engineer examine the site and put his/her stamp on the solution. Good luck w your project !
I want to open wall between the dining room and the living room.
The wall is next to the chimney flue. Going up the attic I notice that the wall is going along with one of the ceiling joist. Is that a non bearing wall or load?
If the ceiling joists don't sit on top of the wall then it might not be a load bearing wall. Feel free to send me some pictures for more information.
I have an interior wall that has no support underneath but has a truss connected to it. There is one truss connected to the beam in the attic that goes across my wall. I need to move the wall back about 44 inches. Can I add trusses to go to a different wall to support the roof line? or can I add temp support move my wall over and then re attach the truss to the new wall?
As long as the wall isn't structurally supporting anything, you can remove it, but you would need to verify that the wall isn't supporting anything and this would require contacting a structural engineer. If you're not going to contact a structural engineer, do a little more research. Remember, these roofs are considered engineered roofing systems and the wall you move might actually be part of the system.
First, let me thank you for making these wonderful videos, thank you for your time and efforts and patience. Now, I have a few questions that I hope you might help me with. Can a small 'office' shed/building to be put up inside of an existing warehouse that already has a level concrete floor? I mean, surely the load-bearing principle applies to any structure ( I never knew of such things!), even a 10 ft x 10ft shed, right? But after watching this video, what kinda' scares me is that there won't be any underground foundations to absorb the weight of my proposed building, just a flat surface. If I built a frame on a flat concrete surface, would that suffice to hold up the walls and ceiling, you think?? ( I've never constructed anything in my life, but I really want an enclosed office shed, but can only afford to build it myself--hence the DIY attempt. I just don't want it to fall down on my head afterwards!) Might a secondary foundation be recommended instead?
I think a 10 x 10 shed could be installed safely without any extra foundation work as long as it's a concrete foundation.
Thank you. I plan to nail it into the floor (special nails from B & C Hardware store), and the B & C guy also thought a 10 x 10 would be okay on the concrete.
TheGypsieStar Just remember, these are only our personal opinions and have no way of guaranteeing success. I don't want to scare you and still think it won't be a problem, but don't know for sure.
Enjoyed your video! I am a DIY'er with no professional certs. I enjoy building and construction technology and I bought my first house. Built in 69 and the city does not keep floor plans or blue prints that long. I want to do some major renovations and the direction I take it all comes down to a single wall. I am 90% sure it is load bearing so I have been trying to find a structural engineer to help me with my project. Where are these guys? haha I have called 7 structural engineer companies and they all went out of business. I am in San Angelo Texas. Is there a special way to get in contact with a contractor or engineer that can help me? City gave me the list of 7 that I tried already. Any help would be appreciated, and again I am fascinated with all of this so I truly enjoyed your video. Thank you!
Shouldn’t the exterior walls be centered over the footings? Thanks for the video.
Common sense might suggest that you are correct to equally distribute the weight the walls are supporting, but it won't always going to be the case and most homes built today have foundations similar to the examples shown in the video.
I'm about to add an addition to one end of an 12' x 16' pier-n-beam building, the trusses are stretched across the long 16' walls in which the video would be spot on in my situation as for as load bearing goes, my question is would the end 12' exterior wall be a load bearing wall in reference to the lay out in the video? I'm not sure if I need to support that wall that is running parallel with the trusses with a header.
Edit in: we will be tying onto the end of the existing building with new walls and trusses starting with a newly made truss butting the new truss up to the existing extended soffit face board and following the same line on down for another 8' all in conjunction with the old building.
Thanks
Most exterior walls are going to be load bearing walls if that answers your questions. If this doesn't answer your question then feel free to email me a drawing or picture, because I'm having a difficult time trying to imagine your project in my mind. Remember, I'm also not allowed to give structural engineering advice, because I'm not a structural engineer.
gregvancom Hi gregvancom, I tried sending an email but received a delivery failure from the email address on your profile.
I Randy, I got your message and responded. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Yes sorry Greg, I did some digging and was able to locate your email, thanks
I couldn't of said it better myself and thanks for sharing.
Can I use, in lieu of a monolithic footing, 8" block on a 24" x 8" footing; then pour the slab to a 8" header block for a metal building?
It sounds like you need to ask that question to an engineer.
thank you
Nicole Quinn 0
Nicole Quinn p.m. on
I want to construct one floor on my existing load bearing house which is almost 30year old. Is it advisable to go for additional floor and if yes then what are the precaution to be taken care. Apart from it you can suggest alternative construction methodology
If you're talking about taking your roof off and adding a second floor, then you will need to increase the strength of the building foundation. Let me know if this is what you're planning on doing, if not feel free to ask more questions.