Want to remove wall (picture with x on wall) coming through kitchen horizontally (backside facing living room with photos on it). Would leave wall in place beside it. Removing would make a 15 ft walk through opening between that wall and back wall. (Red arrows are where truss “beams” in the attic meet above the center hall walls all the way down. Yellow arrows show where basement posts below are directly under (so these are definitely bearing most of the weight.)
(Large panoramic picture very distorted, marked walls run directly parallel to each other. Center wall with photos I want to take out. If wall was taken out there would be 25 ft between living room back wall and back wall of kitchen.
(Basement photos w tile flooring. Wall directly above basement bedroom wall.)
Photo of attic. Roof is steeper than “average”. Middle supports of attic seem to run along center hall walls all the way down (these run directly under with the highest peak of the roofline perpendicular to joists all the way from one end of the house to the other definitely load bearing.)
This particular wall runs parallel with ceiling joists…however I believe (I’ll have to measure) the basement bedroom walls may run directly beneath this one (those go wall to wall across the basement so wondering if this distributes some weight to the wall below. This wall is above maybe a third of the basement bedroom interior walls below.)
- Does it seem to be load bearing?
- There would “only” be a 15 ft gap between the (possible) hallway load bearing wall and the back living room load bearing wall.
- Basement supporting beams run below my center hallway walls so again suspecting those are carrying the bulk of the weight. Again they run opposite the joists and they run all the wall from end to end right below the roof peak and the truss “beams” seem to meet at the point running along the center hall.
- We are in Virginia, tornados are concerns here. Occasionally “light” hurricanes. Main concerns are tornados. I want to make sure removing the wall doesn’t weaken the overall strength of the house.
- The opening between the living room and kitchen if you note, there’s no header beam across. (Does this suggest its just a partition wall?) Notice my hallway walls (definitely bearing weight can tell from the attic) these walls have headers above the walkthroughs.
- On the other side of the wall there are cabinets hanging which I’m hoping it was simply put in for more cabinet space in the design. (Hoping hoping, praying…..)
- This wall is the bane of my existence. I cannot see the living room from any angle as I cook. My kitchen feels like a little box of cabinets.
Any suggestions on what it is, and cheapest alternatives to take this section out to open a space between living room and kitchen.
If my pictures look like a football playbook I apologize. I obviously can’t work a smart phone to type on a photo, not sure if I should be messing with removing walls. Engineering level work. I probably shouldn’t touch most of the diy projects that I do 😂. Just trying to not collapse the house is all. Any help is appreciated!
Best Answer
Walls running parallel with joists are almost never load bearing. Your pictures make it seem it is running parallel. I personally, from the information you have provided, say it's safe to knock that wall out from a roof truss/joist support perspective.