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Load bearing walls as the name
suggests are walls that bear the weight of upper levels and the roof.
It is extremely important to
never remove or modify load bearing walls without first seeking input from
an architect or your local building inspector. Removing or modifying a load
bearing wall could lead to catastrophic failure of the home which in turn
could endanger the lives of people in the home. |
What are Load
Bearing Walls?
In general any wall that runs
perpendicular to floor joists and or roof rafters is a sure bet that it is
probably a load bearing wall. Gable end walls, which in certain cases do not
have floor joists or roof rafters running perpendicular to them, are also load
bearing. This said, your home’s exterior walls are typically load bearing walls.
The reason for this is that exterior walls sit on the foundation walls and carry
the load of upper levels, ceilings and roofs.
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Photo By Mark Donovan |
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In addition to
exterior walls acting as load bearing walls there are also many cases where
interior walls are load bearing. Typically interior walls that run perpendicular
and mid-span to floor joists or rafters are load bearing walls. These types of
load bearing interior walls transfer the weight of upper levels, roofs and
ceilings down to the foundation walls or lally columns that are strategically
placed in the basement.
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Lally columns are steel, cement
filled columns that are set on cement footing pads in the center part of
basements and support heavy beams. The beams are either 3 to 4 laminated 2x10’s
or 2x12s, engineered timbers, or steel I-beams.
The home’s exterior sheathing, e.g.
plywood or Oriented Strand Board (OSB), that are attached to the exterior walls
of the home provide additional structural integrity to the home. The exterior
sheathing provides load strength for lateral stresses that are caused by wind
and seismic events. Crossbracing of the framing members also helps to support
lateral load stresses on the home. Crossbracing can be identified in a home by
looking for angled boards or metal rods/straps that start at the corner of a
wall and run a portion of the length of the wall from top to bottom.
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For more help on how to build a custom home, see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
New Home
Construction Bid Sheet.
The
New Home Construction Bid Sheet
provides you with the knowledge you will need on how to plan for the building of
a custom home,
and what to look for when hiring contractors for your new custom home building
project. It
also includes a detailed cost breakdown table and spreadsheet for estimating
your own new custom home building costs.
How to Finance your Home Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Additional Framing and Carpentry Resources
Framing and Carpentry Tools from Amazon.com
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