My house is Colonial rectangle. I have opened up one load-bearing wall that runs about 2/5 of the length between the den and the living room. With help and excellent advise, I put in a 90" header for a 6'8" opening (after putting up temporary braces on both sides to support the joists above). I feel confident about its integrity. Now I want to remove a wall that runs parallel with the joists and is 90 degrees to this wall. From all of my research, I am thinking that it is not a load-bearing wall. The roof is symmetrically consistent with the rectangular design. Being a newbie here – I'm casting a line out for opinions.
House is about 36' long and 25' wide rectangular. The wall is approx 14' with a 6' opening. Hoping to double the opening to 12' with 2' walls on each side. The wall is parallel with 16" centered joists above and below. I have already opened up a detected load-bearing wall with a 6'8" opening between Living Room and Den perpendicular to this wall. I have attached jpg images and a pdf sketch.
I just saw this when I cut away a spot of the drywall. 2×8 header is above the current opening. Does this indicate load-bearing?
Best Answer
There are exceptions, but typically walls parallel with the joists are non bearing. The exception will be if it is carrying a load from above, transferred down by another wall above it, carrying the roof or corner of a roof, or something like that. Also a point load from above can be brought down through a non-bearing wall.