Attic Trusses Resting On Non Bearing Wall

When joists trusses are perpendicular to the wall and bear o n the top of the wall that wall is bearing wall.

Attic trusses resting on non bearing wall.

The outside walls are supporting the roof so they re bearing walls. Most simple construction truss roof home s roof and trusses are supported by the exterior walls perpendicular to the trusses. Ceiling joists that meet over the wall indicate that it s a bearing wall. It is carrying the weight of the ceiling.

There may still not be any interior bearing walls but you should check. An example of a load bearing wall call be seen on the right. Actually a quick way to determine if the wall is bearing is to cut hole at the top to see if it has one or two top plates. 3 only part of the roof framing may be trusses and the rest is rafters as in the photo below.

Engineered roof truss systems may be designed to eliminate the need for load bearing walls or change where the bearing walls are located. Internal wall brackets are used to connect internal non loadbearing walls to roof trusses at maximum 1800mm centres. One top plate and a space between the bottom chord of the truss and the top of the wall non load bearing. 2 truss chords have been removed.

During home renovations non load bearing walls can be made to bear weight and vice versa. A beam directly under a wall usually means that it s a bearing wall whether the beam is in a crawl space basement or on the main floor. For example a gable end truss may be designed with support members that transmit the roof weight load outward to the side walls allowing the end wall directly below it to have breaks or openings in it that would otherwise be impossible. An example of a non load bearing partition wall can be seen on the left.

To enable the roof truss to deflect under loads nails to the truss must be installed at the top of the slotted holes and not hammered home to allow a loose fit only. For instance hanging or cutting ceiling joists adding stairways and adding attic rooms usually require the changing of non load bearing walls to load bearing walls. This is sometimes done by a homeowner to provide cleared space in the attic for storage but destroys the structural integrity of the truss. If there are two plates refer to an engineer.