On Jan 5, 8:23*am, Matt wrote:
I'm planning to finish my basement and would like to take one side of
the stairwell wall and cut it down to a half-wall to open things up a
little. *Before I do this, I just want to make sure I'm not removing
bearing elements, or if I do, replace their load bearing capacity
somehow. *I've taken a few pics, linked below.

Pic Ahttp://img834.imageshack.us/i/15923046.jpg/*is just a photo
from the basement looking up the stairs. *The stairs turn left at the
landing and go up another 5 steps. *The bottom half of the stairs run
parallel with the joists, which are mostly TJI's. *The two TJI's i the
middle terminate at this cross-member, which is a 2x10. *To the side
of the TJI's and running directly above the stairwell walls are the
two 2x10's (or 2x12's...not sure). *They are a little darker in color
than the TJI's.

Pic Bhttp://img838.imageshack.us/i/90207730.jpg/is a look at the
stairwell from the basement. *The exposed studs there are the ones I
want to cut down to make that side of the stairwell a half wall.

Pic Chttp://img842.imageshack.us/i/42380765.jpg/is focused on the
2x10 that runs directly above the wall I want to remove. *I am
pointing to it.

Pic Dhttp://img547.imageshack.us/i/58100373.jpgis the junction of
the 2x10 and the cross member, showing that the cross member is hung
from those 2x10's with joist hangers. *The cross member appears
thicker than a 2x10, but on second thought, it's probably just because
it is drywalled on one side.

Pic Ehttp://img337.imageshack.us/i/52719782.jpg/is looking down the
stairs. *That rectangular piece at the top of the pic is the part I
was saying that someone really tall would bump their head on, and the
bottom 10" is formed by the cross member described above.

Pic Fhttp://img18.imageshack.us/i/98494464.jpg/is another shot of
the wall, showing what I want to do. *I basically want to make this a
half-wall to open up the stairwell into the basement to give it a more
open feeling. *I just want to make sure when I remove the top half or
so of those studs, I'm not removing bearing elements, or if I do, that
I properly replace their capacity somehow.

I will probably have a contractor come take a look, but I'd like some
thoughts from people *here as well

A funny thing about 'bearing' walls is that they don't always start
out that way. Stiffness attracts load. So that basement stair wall
stiffens up the floor joists and prevents deflection so the joist is
no longer acting as a beam. I've seen a lot of cowboy construction
and you should trace the load path up through the house and take note
of what unforgiving surfaces would be affected. If there are tiled
surfaces along that load path you should proceed more cautiously.

That basement stair wall doesn't look bearing, but you'd be nuts to
rely on anything other than pro eyeballs on site. BTW, you don't
_have_ to remove all of that wall. You could keep a post. Or, on the
other hand, you could remove all of the wall below the stringer and
open up the stair entirely to the basement. Your reasons for removing
that wall (access for larger items to get into the basement?,
aesthetics?, ennui?) should guide you in how much of it has to go.

R