load bearing wall or not ????

Question

my living room and den is divided by a wall with a 9ft. opening walk throught. we want to knock that wall down and have 1 large room. my bedroom and bath is above that wall so, i dont want to do something stupid....

Answer 1

PS Just a Note.............
Outer walls are load bearing. Even if it's a non loadbearing it can cause a certain shifting and dislocation of walls. See the links below to see what can happen.

When dealing with a load bearing wall "BE CAUTIOUS" You can get all kinds of advice from people that really don't know. So see what the real experts have to say. Do your research......."PLAN YOUR WORK AND WORK YOUR PLAN"
I doubt very seriously if anyone could instruct you on line except to give you the links to the best source of information.
I hope I have helped you.
Black & Decker step by step photos
EXCELLENT FOR PRE-PLANNING
How to Install a Permanent Header when Removing a Load-bearing Wall
http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProjectCenter/ProjectDetail.aspx?DOC_ID=p_2_76_20148_20168_20206.html
Identifying a Bearing Wall
Bob Vila /VIDEO
http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Identifying_a_Bearing_Wall--T249.html
Bob Vila/ Expert
http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Learning_About_Load_Bearing_Walls-Miscellaneous_Walls-A1815.html
What is a Load-Bearing Wall?
http://www.hometips.com/articles/bearingwall.html
They should not be removed without a properly engineered method of support--typically a system of beams--to replace them during and after removal.
Learning About Load Bearing Walls
Load Bearing Walls
Remodeling Considerations
Redirecting the Load

Answer 2

Very simple. Get a stud finder put it on the ceiling and locate the studs and find out which way they are running. If the joists are running to your wall its load bearing if there running in the opposite direction you can knock that wall down. There are other tricks like if you can see the lines from the drywall on the ceiling this also tells you which way the studs are going. If you can't do those to steps grab a hammer or equivalent and start tapping around and youll figure it out which way they are going. On most houses the beam is run from left to right looking at the house from the front door. This is done because its the easiest, and fastest way to frame a house. Most houses dont stray from this unless you have a crazy architectural house.

But like grannygrunt28391 was saying you can get into a lot of trouble if you do this yourself. Since your asking this question your obviously new to this kind of thing which is ok, but you need to get a professional from your town to look at it. It is easy to say ...yeah just knock down the wall. You could have plumbing coming down that wall, you most definetly have electrical wire going through the wall. There are a lot of things to consider. But if your just using to yahoo answers to figure out if it can be down so you can call someone then see my initial paragraph. But honestly you can call any local contractor and get a free estimate. 99% of construction companies will give free estimates so they could investigate your wall and give you the run down. Get 3 estimates so you know your getting a good overall judgement of the work.

Answer 3

If the rooms are on opposite sides of the house then the wall between them is almost certainly load bearing. If they are on the same side of the house the wall is probably not load bearing. In other words, if the wall in question runs the length of the house, it is load bearing. If it runs across the house it is not likely load bearing.

Bert

Answer 4

You need to have someone look at the wall. If you really want to open it up, you could put a beam across and some type of pillar on either side.