Attic Trusses Resting On Non Bearing Wall

One top plate and a space between the bottom chord of the truss and the top of the wall non load bearing.

Attic trusses resting on non bearing wall.

This is sometimes done by a homeowner to provide cleared space in the attic for storage but destroys the structural integrity of the truss. An example of a non load bearing partition wall can be seen on the left. Ceiling joists that meet over the wall indicate that it s a bearing wall. If the support point is at a truss panel point additional load could be put on the element supporting the non bearing wall thus causing distress.

It is carrying the weight of the ceiling. 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. If there are two plates refer to an engineer. 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.

Unfortunately my home builder had framed out the attic using a common truss system utilizing 2x4 s see attached picture of exact type although my roof is much steeper and no middle non bearing wall below. If there is a truss over the wall the wall is probably not load bearing since the truss bears the load. Chances are this is a non bearing wall. Non load bearing walls non loadbearing walls must comply with the requirements specified in the relevant standards as appropriate to the material.

An example of a load bearing wall call be seen on the right. The outside walls are supporting the roof so they re bearing walls. Non loadbearing walls as designated shall not carry any truss loading and shall not be packed to touch the underside of trusses see figure below. If there is a column that supports the truss found in the wall the wall still would not be load bearing because the column is taking the load.

If the wall in question is parallel to the joists trusses it will likely not be load bearing. 3 only part of the roof framing may be trusses and the rest is rafters as in the photo below. There may still not be any interior bearing walls but you should check carefully. When joists trusses are perpendicular to the wall and bear on the top of the wall that wall is bearing wall.