I need to hire someone to determine if a wall I want to move is load bearing. How do I find such a person?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story

Listeners write in about removing masonry chimneys and ask about blocked ridge vents, deal-breakers with fixer-uppers, and flashing ledgers that are spaced from the wall.
Highlights
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
Look in the phone listing under "structural engineer."
If you're talking standard residential wood frame construction then any competent carpenter should be able to make the determination.
Unless you’ve got an extremely unique structure, I agree with DanH that the opinion of a carpenter is perfectly adequate. If you want to make your own evaluation, just go up into the attic and look which way the ceiling joists run. If they are parallel to the wall in question and there are no posts coming down from the roof, then it is extremely unlikely that the wall is loadbearing. Otherwise, you need to start looking at post and beam systems to pick up the load, but this is not the nightmare that it is sometimes made out to be. In fact, posts and beams can be used to quite an esthetic advantage.