Hello – I attached a quick picture to help determining whether the kitchen wall is load bearing. when I checked my basement, it has set of four concrete square pillars (not in the center but towards left). Directly above those pillars is a living room wall, which runs halfway and on the above floor, there is a wall directly above it which is the bedroom walls.
The kitchen wall on the first floor, extends halfway from back (see the top view diagram). I do not see any supporting pillar for this wall in the basement, but is directly connected to the 2nd floor. I wanted to remove this kitchen wall but a bit worried if it bears the load of the back half of the 2nd floor, but then as I mentioned there are no pillars directly below in the basement. Please guide.
Best Answer
Bearing wall: probably not.
Structural wall: possibly.
I suspect the floor joists run parallel to the wall you want to remove. If no overhead loads bear on this wall, then it’s not a load bearing wall.
However, the wall could support (brace) the exterior wall.
If the wall does not have plywood on it, it probably is not a structural wall. The Code requires the width of a building to be a certain percentage of the length. If it exceeds (less than 1:4, I think) that amount, an interior wall (bracing) be added for shear.