Removing or altering a load bearing wall in your home is not a DIY project and is one for the pros to handle. How to tell if a wall is load bearing or not is the key question that average people can’t answer with 100% certainty.
A load bearing wall is one that supports and carries the weight of the floor(s) above it. It’s an important structural aspect of your home and is a critical part of your home design. Load bearing walls transfer weight from the roof to each floor below and eventually down to the home foundation.
Load bearing walls in your home are usually marked with the letter S for structural on your blueprints. A home’s support framework is usually in the center of the home. Steel posts and beams in the basement support above floors and you may see walls that rest on the foundation.
Not being a structural engineer
myself, I did research to learn more about load bearing walls in terms of how to tell which walls are load bearing, can they be removed and how much a removal will cost. Here’s what I found.
How much does it cost to remove a load bearing wall?
I researched a number of contractors, structural engineers and other qualified sources to see how much it costs to remove a load bearing wall.
From the research I did, costs to remove a load bearing wall break down as follows:
Single-story home: A load bearing wall will typically cost between $1,200 and $3,000 to remove.
Multi-story home: A load bearing wall will typically cost between $3,200 and $10,000 to remove.
If you simply wanted to remove a partition (ie. non load bearing) wall, it will typically cost around $300 – $1,000.
How to tell if a wall is load bearing
Why someone would attempt to remove or otherwise impact a potentially load bearing wall in their home without professional advice is beyond me. Especially when you consider the above-mentioned cost of having the wall professionally removed versus doing it yourself and causing damage and possibly much higher costs should you accidentally impact a load bearing structure.
If you’re simply interested to learn more because you’re considering getting a contractor in to do some work, here’s how you can to the first step yourself to see what you’re up against.
Blueprints
If you have access to your home’s blueprints, check them for any wall marked with the letter S which stands for “structural” which indicates a load bearing wall or post. You can’t simply view a blueprint however to 100% determine which walls are structural and load bearing.
Center walls
Center walls near the middle of the home tend to have a load bearing purpose. If you have a basement, walls that are parallel directly above the basement beam are usually load bearing, too.
Perpendicular walls
In many cases, walls that meet at a 90 degree angle to floor joists and are thus perpendicular to each other are load bearing.
If you notice however, none of the above mentioned clues offer 100% certainty that a wall is or isn’t load bearing.
Walls aren’t the only things that support weight from above. Metal support beams and posts do, too.
Support Posts
A load bearing pole such as the one in the pic above is usually hidden once the basement is finished. It will typically be dry walled and painted or otherwise covered to make it look nice but it still serves the same purpose: It’s a structural support for the floor above the basement.
You can’t really tell but this pole is near the center of the basement although there is another load bearing pole in the basement, too.
Depending on where you live, you’ll likely need to consult a qualified professional such as a structural engineer or other qualified person who can check out your house themselves and view your floor plan to figure things out with 100% certainty.
My personal experience with load bearing walls
When my wife and I lived in a 15+ year old house shortly before we ended up selling it, we considered the possibility of adding an additional room to the house, over the garage. Some houses in the area already had a room built on top of the garage so we figured we’d look at the option too. We had a few contractors come in and have a look at the situation and see what we could do.
I had no idea how to tell definitively if a wall is load bearing or not and we quickly found out that sometimes, neither do the pros at first glance! We spoke with three contractors. One wasn’t sure if the wall in question was load-bearing, one felt it was and the third felt in all likelihood it wasn’t load bearing.
Again, they just did a visual inspection and that’s as far as we got with things and went no further. But if contractors who have experience doing this sort of work can’t agree at a glance, how can an average person who doesn’t have experience?
We didn’t consult a structural engineer – we didn’t get to that point – as we were just looking for a quick yes or no as to whether or not contractors thought it might be a project worth looking at for resale value.
Can you remove load bearing walls?
There are several types of walls in your home that are relevant to this subject:
- Structural load bearing walls that support the floors and hold up your house ie. it bears a load.
- Walls that simply act as partitions and separate the house into individual rooms ie. it doesn’t bear a load.
Before you remove or alter a load bearing wall, you need to ensure that the load is supported with another beam or support structure to replace the load bearing before you can answer the question.
What happens if a load bearing wall is removed?
If a load bearing wall is removed or altered without replacing it, it can create several or more structural problems within your house:
- The ceiling or floor can sag leading to a dangerous environment and an uneven floor.
- Drywall and other cracks can appear in the walls. Cracks often appear naturally too so cracks on their own don’t necessarily mean something is wrong.
- Doors and windows can be difficult to open correctly and can stick.
Do I need a structural engineer to remove a load bearing wall?
Yes, or another certified qualified professional who has the skills, experience and knowledge on handling this sort of work. Chances are you will need a permit for this work depending on where you live and local regulations and laws.