I was in a home today that was newly remodeled (less than 2 months) and they had taken about 10+ feet of a load bearing wall plus a door way out to make an open kitchen design. The contractor suggested to put a support beam across the span like what would be common. The customer was not happy with that so the contractor said he would do the work in that attic and she wouldn’t see it, she said great. The job wasn’t permitted and there was no consult with a structural engineer. Now to the question. It didn’t look right to me but when I was in the attic I noticed that all he had done is about every 2 truss he sister’d a collar tie and a rafter tie to the top and bottom to “reinforce them” and thought that would be sufficient to remove about half of the load bearing wall in this house. I told her to consult an engineer but I was wondering if anybody had any literature that I could read on the matter or if somebody new if this was an acceptable alternative to a support beam.
The trusses are typical 2x4 trusses and the roof did feel a bit on the spongy side and it had a bit of saddle back going on but don’t know if that was from before. The contractor if he was one also told her she didn’t have a load bearing wall in her house so they could do anything they wanted with out concern.
No pictures to provide because I was not on a home inspection.
A picture of course, would be your biggest asset in a recommendation for this problem of the renovation.
In my experience in building, the way you described the fix by this contractor would not fly as a proper replacement for structural support.
If the roof framing is stick built as I took your explanation, there are numerous ways to pick up the load of the ceiling and transfer it to exterior walls.
But without seeing the condition, not possible to recommend a procedure.
I would recommend you have a Licensed General Contractor with stuctural design capabilities or an Architect or engineer to recommend the proper repair.
Repairs like this by an unqualified person or contractor could possibly be a safety issue.
Sorry about no photos I wasn’t intending on taking pictures up in the attic so I didn’t bring a camera with me (I was at the house to hang her TV on the wall after her remodel and run an HDMI cord. Got to pay the bill until I can start home inspecting). It was a Truss system and with horizontal supports sister’d to them on the bottom and the top for lack of a better word collar ties and rafter ties and I did recommend getting a licensed contractor to look at it. Thanks
As Juan mentioned, if it was a truss, it is a non issue.
But why did you mention that ;
sister’d a collar tie and a rafter tie to the top and bottom to “reinforce them” and thought that would be sufficient to remove about half of the load bearing wall in this house.
That describes a stick bult or conventional framed roof.
Just a quick look around the house it was the center wall running perpendicular to the trusses and it was the only wall minus the exteriors that went from ground to trusses through the center of the house continuously. I just looked at it very quickly while I was doing other things in the area and I could have easily made a mistake about it being load bearing and that I why I asked the question in the first place so I could get more information about the subject of load bearing walls and ways to pick up the load and transfer it to foundation other ways.
You only learn by research and asking people that know more than you
here is the design of truss rafter system in question for more information and I could tell it was built onsite and not prefab. The house was built in the 50s.
I am just trying to learn all I can about structural issues and just wanted some reading material if anybody could provide it about this or any situation that would be close to this above and beyond what I can find on this site?
