I know there are several threads about this phenomenon, but all houses are different, so I hope you excuse the question being brought up again. Our house, a single-story house with a finished basement, has a trellis by the stairs as shown in the image below. We would like to remove this and replace it with a waist-high railing instead. The question is whether this trellis can have some form of load-bearing structure. It is included in the blueprint but is shown there as a regular wall with lines in it (see explanatory image below).
On the lower floor, there is no wall in the same place as where the trellis is on the upper floor.
Is there any way to find this out, or is it already clear from the above explanation plus images whether it is load-bearing or not?
Thank you for so many and quick responses. Yes, there is an attic above. I find it hard to believe that it is load-bearing, but you always get a bit worried about changes in a house you didn't build yourself. I trust you and will cut it down, and we’ll see what happens. I promise to inform you if it turns out that the roof has collapsed. If I’m still alive, that is
It's quite simple, from what I can see, the ceiling is mounted before the trellis? So if you remove the trellis, the ceiling remains intact, except for some nail marks.
If it is to be load-bearing, the rule that the trellis pins attach to must be secured to the ceiling joists, and the ceiling is mounted around the trellis. In that case, you will get a hole in the ceiling if you remove the trellis. You always mount the ceiling AFTER all the load-bearing details.
That was certainly a wise point, Anna. I completely missed that. I tore down the trellis this morning and I can report that just as you said, the ceiling is intact and nice except for an unpainted section where the trellis was. Feels great. It's strange that a trellis, which is actually open in itself, can still make a room feel enclosed. Now that it's gone, the entire entrance is considerably more airy.
