How to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing: 9 Signs

You'll want to know how to tell if a wall is load-bearing before you remove or alter a wall to merge rooms, add space, or rethink your home's layout. Several clues can help you know if a wall is load-bearing, even without removing the drywall or other invasive measures.

What Is a Load-Bearing Wall?

A load-bearing wall supports itself and the elements located directly above it, such as floors, joists, roofing, or other walls. A load-bearing wall transfers the weight of the upper elements to the foundation.

A partition or non-load-bearing wall supports only itself and lightweight items like shelves, pictures, and interior doors. A partition wall can be removed without affecting the home’s structure. But if a load-bearing wall is removed, serious damage to the home could occur.

How to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing

House blueprints and architectural plans are the first to check if the walls are load-bearing. Information that may point help:

• Symbols in the plans' legend such as "S" for structural
• Thicker lines that indicate thicker walls
• Hatching or symbols that identify steel, concrete, or brick walls
• Supporting columns within the walls

Wall Is Perpendicular to the Joists

If the wall runs perpendicular (at a 90-degree angle) to the joists, it is likely a load-bearing wall.

When the wall runs parallel to the floor joists, it typically is not a load-bearing wall. In some instances, a bearing wall might be parallel to the joists. The wall may be aligned directly under a single joist or it might bear on blocking adding between two adjacent joists.

Wall Is a Partial Wall With a Beam

If the wall is a partial wall with a beam running alongside it, the wall might be a load-bearing wall.

A partial wall stops short of an adjacent wall. The beam will often be a ceiling projection (downward) that runs directly into the partial wall. The builder may have installed a microlam beam to span the opening and carry the load above.

Wall Is an Exterior Wall

If the wall is an exterior wall, it almost always is a load-bearing wall.

Exterior walls form the perimeter, or outer footprint, of a house. Where there are windows and doors, the walls include beams, or headers, spanning across the tops of the openings. Posts on either side of the openings support the beams. In essence, these headers are partial wall replacements since they carry the weight that a wall would have carried.

Wall Is a Masonry Wall

If the wall is made of concrete, bricks, or blocks, it may be a load-bearing wall.

Not all masonry is structural and capable of bearing loads. Manufactured veneer stone is a decorative product and cannot support loads. It is lightweight and prone to crumbling under stress.

Wall Has a Support Structure Below It

If the wall has any type of support system below it, the wall will likely be structural and load-bearing.

If the wall is on the first floor of the house, and there is a basement or crawlspace below, you can check in the lower level for these supports. You may find another wall or other supporting member (piers, beams, columns, jack posts, etc.) directly below and following the same path as the wall above.

Wall Is Braced From the Roof

Check the home's framing in the attic. If the wall is attached to bracing in the roof frame, the wall is load-bearing.

Wall Is Thicker Than Other Walls

The wall may be a load-bearing wall if it is thicker than other walls in the home.

Partition or non-load-bearing walls are built with two-by-fours. Load-bearing walls are also built with two-by-fours but also with two-by-sixes or two-by-eights. It's rarely necessary to build a partition wall thicker than 4 inches thick.

Wall Is Connected to the Foundation

Walls that connect directly to foundation walls are usually load-bearing.

Foundation walls are always load-bearing. Made of structural masonry materials like concrete block or poured concrete, the primary role of foundation walls is to support the weight of the house. 

Wall Is in the Center of the Structure

A wall that runs down the center of a house might be a load-bearing wall that helps to support the weight of the roof.

Look inside the attic to see if the house has trusses. If the trusses are perpendicular to the wall in question and sit on top of the wall, the wall is a load-bearing wall.