I am in the midst of rehabbing an old house that was originally a single family home, converted to a duplex and then made back into a single family. Some posts seem to have been added in the middle of a long FR as part of the partition to make it a duplex. Some of the posts I think are load bearing because they support overlapping ceiling joists. The others I’m unsure about because they only support single ceiling joists. All the posts are close in proximity….w/in 5ft of each other. They look awkward in the room so I want to remove the ones I can safely forfeit. Is there a conclusive way to tell if load bearing? Thanks.
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you should post alot more info. Such as span and depth of joist. a sketch would help.
Also consider getting some professional help if you are not sure how the structure is working.
I can try a sketch. Had a builder come to the house but even he was noncommittal.
Is the sheetrock down from the ceiling?
Yes. All joists are visible.
Do the joists go from one wall to another wall?
It's easy to tell which are load bearing after removal of each. To determine before takes more info. If in place it wiggles when rapped on - non bearing. If it gives a deep harmonic thud - bearing. The harder the rap on it and deeper the tone the more it's bearing.Inspectors love my engineering.
Like Frammer52 just mentioned, if the ceilings will be coming down at some point, it will be possible to tell for sure.But without knowing all the span information, along with lumber species and size, and without seeing the ceiling joists, it's not possible to know for sure.I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone,
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone;
I can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone,
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here. (Phil Ochs)
No conclusive way without more info, but if this is the top floor (with only a non-habitable attic above), and the joist above does not have anything bearing on it (like a post from joist to the ridge of the roof) and the joists do not overlap on the post (without some other supporting member) then it's PROBABLY not load-bearing.
Also, if you look at the finished floor, and you can tell that a post was added on top of the finished floor (indicating it was added during the duplexing), it's probably not load-bearing.
"Is there a conclusive way to tell if load bearing?"
I'm not really a fan of the "cutitout and see what sags" school of engineering.
There is darn little info to go on here, and you already have had a guy on site who is a bit perplexed, so photos for us or a PE to study your engineering is the next step.
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Another clue is whether there's anything BELOW the post -- a bearing wall, a beam, another post, etc. If not then the post isn't a legit bearing post (even if it is carrying weight for some reason).
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Edited 9/17/2009 8:59 am by DanH
I plan to be at the site in the next few days. I'll take some photos and post. Appreciate everyone's input.
Make a drawing and post it. take some pictures and post them too. What we give you will still just be conjecture though.
Edited 9/17/2009 8:33 am ET by Matt