How can I find out if a wall on the inside of my house is load bearing, or not?

Question

Its a flat roofed property.

Answer 1

If the wall is a long wall with hall way doors in the middle of the building, it is load bearing. If it is an outside wall or separates the garage from the living space, it is a load bearing wall.
The other walls may have some component making them bearing walls, so plan to shore, and remove some at a time, rather than the entire length.
The sources cited below agree that one should request and respect an opinion from a professional... remodeling contractor, engineer, or building inspector.

Answer 2

To be safe, assume it is. But in a nutshell, you have to look at the structural members. Starting with roof. Which way does the roof framing run. I suspect on your flat roof, the members run in one direction. The walls perpendicular to the roof framing are bearing the load of the roof. But that doesn't mean the other walls aren't bearing some other load. If there is a second floor, or loft, the other walls may be bearing the floor load. Once again it depends on the way the floor structure runs. If it is a balloon framed structure, meaning the walls run from foundation to roof basically, many times second floor joists were run in a haphazard fashion. So it is really hard to tell for sure without some demolition of ceiling or flooring finishes. That is why I suggest, assume it is loading bearing.

If the purpose is you are adding doors or windows, assume it is, put in a header. If adding an addition and you want a large opening to the addition, you want to consult with an engineer.

Answer 3

Load bearing walls run perpendicular to wall and ceiling joists. If you have an attic, pop your head up there to see which way the joists are running. If you can't do that then look outside to see which way your roof is sloping-- the joists will run the same direction as the slope. If you are going to remove a bearing wall, make sure you brace it well before you remove it and then install an appropriate sized header to hold up your ceiling. If you don't know what this means then don't even attempt it.

Answer 4

Flat roof with no crawl space above the ceiling?

Not an easy way, but one way is to determine which direction the Roof supports run, Trusses or beams, and where the wall is in reference to them, IE: Perpendicular or parallel. If you have any access at all, you should find out how the roof support runs.

Does the wall stand alone? Divide 2 rooms? Butt to the exterior? Butt at a corner with an adjoining wall?

Answer 5

If you have access to look inside the wall or the ceiling, thats an easy question. Load bearing walls run Opposite directions of floor joists. It is usually a constant wall (with doors) that crosses side to side. You can also get a heads up if the doors have headers on them, its an indicator of being load bearing.

Answer 6

just call your local code enforcement, they have the original plans.