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Homeowners increasingly seek to open up floor space by removing interior walls. Before any interior wall is removed, it is essential to determine if the wall supports floor, ceiling or even roof framing. Such "bearing" walls can be removed only if some alternate method of support is provided for the framing above.

For a relatively new house, building plans (if available) may show interior bearing walls. However, as-built framing construction should always be verified visually before a wall is removed.

For many existing houses with rectangular floor plans, interior bearing walls can often be located by visual inspection. Tools such as stud-finders may be useful to obtain more information about direction of floor joists. However, ceiling finish must usually be removed to determine with certainty if an interior wall is in fact a bearing wall.

For older houses, built before 1950, and for houses with irregular floor plans, ceiling finish should always be removed to verify bearing wall conditions.

A bearing wall supports other parts (elements) of the house.Floor joists (such as 2x8s or 2x10s) or roof framing members (rafters or joists) are perpendicular to the bearing wall and are on top of (bear on) the wall.

For the vast majority of houses built since 1950, a ceiling is up against (attached to) the bottom edges of floor joists, even though some may describe the joists as ceiling joists. For older houses, separate ceiling joists are sometimes found (below floor joists).

Exterior walls that support floor joists (including attic floor joists) are bearing walls. However, even if an exterior wall does not support floor joists, it can still be a bearing wall if it supports roof framing (rafters or joists). Identification of such condition requires careful evaluation when floor joists and roof rafters run in opposite directions for a two-story house. The exterior wall below the second floor is a bearing wall if the rafters are perpendicular to the wall, even if second floor joists are parallel to the wall.

Installation of a "header beam" or "floor beam" is required to support floor or roof framing when a bearing wall is to be removed. For a short header (up to about 4 feet), double 2x10s or 2x12s are usually adequate. However, for a longer floor beam, proper design is essential to ensure safety and to minimize movement.

Accurate information about upper framing to be supported must be obtained to allow for proper design of a new header or floor beam. Evaluation of vertical deflection

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