My house was built in 1976. It is a modified salt-box. The rooms on the big-slant side each have a dormer and then kneewalls on either side of it. I would like to cut into these walls and take advantage of the space by adding short closets or something. Questions–are these half-size walls structural? The rafters of the house are all big beams–not engineered trusses, if it matters. Thanks guys!
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Sarah,
Those walls are absolutely structural. You can make use of the space behind them but you must use headers to carry the weight of the roof across any closet door openings that you may open up.
The job is not too big a deal, really, but should definately be done by an experienced carpenter.
good luck.
they are structual. Add a 2*10 header in there for a regular size closet door and you should be fine.
Before it can be determined if they (the knee walls) are load bearing, you must determine how large the rafters are, what is their span, and are they one-piece the full length of their span.
Just being a kneewall does not mean it is carring any load.
Terry
how long ar these rafters?
I'm betting the kneewall is structural, but only a knowledgeable person on site can find this out and plan a way to satisfy your goals.
Excellence is its own reward!
Sarah,
As most have said, they probably are structural. Either you have a joint in your rafters over the knee wall because they could not get material long enough to span from peak to 1st floor wall, or they are one piece but the knee wall gives some midspan support.
Here is what I propose. Unless your space is very tight, I would add a wall behind the existing wall to support the rafters. If you have two runs of rafters, make sure that you can get good bearing on both rafter ends before removing the existing knee wall. You may be able to get away with a single 2x10 header, with 2x4's cripples turned 90°, so you would only lose 1.5". But once again, this is a question that only an experience person could answer. This method would allow you to limit damage to the existing to the extent that trim will cover.
Good luck.
Jon Blakemore
The chances are excellent that those kneewalls are structural. They might be holding something up, or helping to prevent racking, or both.
You can use the space behind them for dead storage by cutting narrow doors or access panels into the gyprock between the studs of the kneewalls. A small cupboard door can be mounted in a 1x3 frame and held into the gyprock with flanges behind it and casing on the room side to cover the screws.
Dinosaur
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