Wall Load Bearing In A Bathroom

If you are making an 8 ft opening in a load bearing wall you will need an 8 ft header beam designed by an engineer with support posts at each end that are supported by some kind of structure below the floor.

Wall load bearing in a bathroom.

The same would be the case if you removed the entire wall but the beam would be much larger. Look for the signs of big sturdy wooden or metal structures crossing a room s ceiling and intersecting a wall that you know is load bearing or an external wall like boxy horizontal protrusions crossing the ceiling. The load bearing walls would be above those beams. In some cases you may not be able to tell for sure whether a wall is bearing.

Load bearing walls inside the building typically run parallel to the ridge. However there are cases where a bearing wall is parallel to the joists. But if the wall runs perpendicular at a 90 degree angle to the joists there is a good chance that it is load bearing. This is extremely true for houses with additions as even though these walls may be interior now they were previously exterior walls and are extremely load bearing.

Generally when the wall in question runs parallel to the floor joists above it is not a load bearing wall. Walls that are stacked may be load bearing. Check the foundation if a wall or beam is directly connected to the foundation of your house it is load bearing. If you do spot joists in your basement and there is a wall that runs perpendicular this wall is most likely load bearing.

A wall directly above those beams and any walls directly above those walls are probably load bearing. If you see these nearby internal walls may not be load bearing. Go into the basement or the lowest level of a building to identify interior load bearing walls. If your wall conforms to the situation shown you can be sure it s load bearing.

Look at the floor joists if you can see the floor joists either from the basement looking up. Find these by measuring or by studying a floor plan of your house. If the wall is parallel above the joists it s most likely not a load bearing wall.