Hello,
We have bought a 1½-story house built in '73. A brick house of 125 sqm. We haven't taken possession yet but are thinking a lot about how to renovate, etc.
Now to the question, how can you determine if an interior wall (on the ground floor) is load-bearing or not? I have lived under the impression that a load-bearing interior wall goes across the roof trusses, but the current owner claims that a wall that runs parallel to the trusses is load-bearing, an "unusual" construction was the message. Can this really be true? In that case, the wall would only support one truss, what would be the point of that? Does anyone recognize an "unusual" construction with a load-bearing wall parallel to the trusses?
Grateful for answers!
We have bought a 1½-story house built in '73. A brick house of 125 sqm. We haven't taken possession yet but are thinking a lot about how to renovate, etc.
Now to the question, how can you determine if an interior wall (on the ground floor) is load-bearing or not? I have lived under the impression that a load-bearing interior wall goes across the roof trusses, but the current owner claims that a wall that runs parallel to the trusses is load-bearing, an "unusual" construction was the message. Can this really be true? In that case, the wall would only support one truss, what would be the point of that? Does anyone recognize an "unusual" construction with a load-bearing wall parallel to the trusses?
Grateful for answers!
If the wall is on the ground floor, it is primarily a matter of which direction the joists of the intermediate floor run.
We live in a 2-story house with a "small" sloping wall. And we have a load-bearing wall on the ground floor that runs across the house.
When you have a 1 1/2-story house (i.e., if the eaves are at the height of the intermediate floor), it is usually the case that the lower part of the truss (or leg, I think it is called) is part of the intermediate floor.
In our case, the lower part of the trusses serves as the ceiling beams for the upper floor, and the trusses extend down 40 cm and rest on the outer walls. Those 40 cm give us a small sloping wall. And then there is no dependency between the trusses and the intermediate floor on the ground floor.
Hope this can give you some ideas about how it is in your new house.
We live in a 2-story house with a "small" sloping wall. And we have a load-bearing wall on the ground floor that runs across the house.
When you have a 1 1/2-story house (i.e., if the eaves are at the height of the intermediate floor), it is usually the case that the lower part of the truss (or leg, I think it is called) is part of the intermediate floor.
In our case, the lower part of the trusses serves as the ceiling beams for the upper floor, and the trusses extend down 40 cm and rest on the outer walls. Those 40 cm give us a small sloping wall. And then there is no dependency between the trusses and the intermediate floor on the ground floor.
Hope this can give you some ideas about how it is in your new house.