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Which Walls Can I Remove? Understanding Load Bearing Walls
- Bill Zhao
- Dec 10
- 3 min read
One of the earliest forms of construction, and found in practically every residential home in New Zealand, building with load-bearing walls is a common method of tackling multi-storey builds. Structures built on a load-bearing system work via transferring the load down through the building, all the way to the foundation. If you’re assessing a DIY project or are just interested in learning, find out what parts of your home can and can’t be removed.
What Does a Load-Bearing Wall Do?
As a means of transferring weight, load-bearing walls take the pressure of the above floor’s load and transfer it downwards, all the way to the foundation, which can take the full force of a building. These walls are important because without them, the above floor and ceiling can sag, sustain damage, or collapse entirely, compromising the entire building’s structural integrity. Unlike other structure types like frame structures, load-bearing structures feature walls that are crucial to a building’s soundness.
How Do I Identify a Load-Bearing Wall?
The most common means of checking for a load-bearing wall is to see if it runs perpendicular to the above floor joists. Floor joists act as the skeleton of a floor, and often come in the form of horizontal beams of wood. The loads taken by the floor joists are transferred to places such as load bearing walls. The reason why these walls run perpendicular is because it allows many of the midpoints or endpoints of the joists to rest upon them at once.
Like a Bedframe
If you’ve ever seen a bedframe with those horizontal slats running across, then the concept is somewhat similar. Imagine the mattress is the floor on top, the slats are the joists, and the load bearing walls are the side rails, centre support beam, and legs. These distribute the weight downwards onto the foundation, or in this analogy’s case, the floor. If you were to take out the centre support for example, then the mattress would sink. It would be quite the concern if the same happened for the floor above, which is why load-bearing walls exist.
What About Non-Load-Bearing Walls?
Alternatively, you can identify non-load bearing walls if they run parallel with the above floor joists. You won’t likely find parallel-running load bearing walls because then they would only be supporting a single floor joist or none at all. These walls can be removed as they weren’t made to provide structural support in the first place. You can also tell from its feel: they’re generally not as dense, and tapping them produces a hollow sound. Try and compare this with walls you suspect to be load-bearing, which often feature stronger construction. Alternatively, you can use stud finders and blueprints to help you, or better yet, call upon a professional.
How Do I Know My Floor Joist Direction?
Knowing the direction of your joists can play an instrumental role in helping to identify load-bearing walls. Often, your floorboards are laid out perpendicular to your joists, just like load-bearing walls. If you have a basement or attic, you may be able to see exposed joists since they often aren’t covered. Additionally, joists commonly run across the width of a space, rather than the length. This is so that they’re more structurally sound. Just as with identifying walls, you can use tools, plans, or call upon outside help.
With how common the load-bearing system is, knowing how to identify walls and floor joists can be incredibly useful for planning renovations and visualising changes. While it is possible to remove or replace load-bearing walls, the process for doing so requires a lot more work force and effort, such as having a structural engineer, a team of labourers, and temporary supports. Even if you have no work planned, it can be useful to know your own home better and visualise its internals.
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