I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.

"car crash" wrote in message
...
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.



Any chance you could post some pictures at a site like www.photobucket.com
so people can view them easily?

"car crash" wrote in message
...
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.


Builders are not known for putting in extra things that are not needed. My
guess is that the 2 x 4s are there for a reason. Find out what their
function is before you make changes. Pictures would be helpful.

"car crash" wrote in message
...
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.


NO, NO, NO!! Never accept structural advice from HD employees! If you have
a wall and jackpost near the staircase, chances are that at least some of it
is load-bearing. The jackpost for sure should not be moved. The wall may
not be load-bearing, but the staircase may be using it for support. My
basement steps go down in an "L" fashion, and I have some load-bearing
elements with it. As others have said, pictures would be helpful.

"car crash" wrote in message
...
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.


You'd have to be nuts to accept the word of a Home Depot employee or a
newsgroup junkie that has never seen what you have. If the house is only 1
year old, the builder and/or architect is probably still around and can
answer your question.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Basements can certainly have load bearing walls, though it is much
more common to carry the load on a beam, often called a girder.
The girder can be multiple layers of dimension lumber, lvl beam,
steel H beam, or other configuration usually having several
columns (often steel lally type columns) breaking up the span of
the beam to reduce its size. This beam is most certainly load
bearing. Another good way to tell if something is load bearing is
whether the joists rest on this beam.

I can't figure out what you are describing. It sounds a bit like
what you are talking about is carrying the top of the stair or a
landing at the top of the stair. If there is a wall on the next
floor that rests on this wall and, especially, if the upstairs
ceiling joists break on that wall, then it is all load bearing.
If it is carrying the top of the stair and you remove it and you
then place two 250# men at the top of the stair carrying a deep
freeze, what is going to happen? A particularly bad time to find
out is load bearing. Without being able to see the wall in
question, I doubt that anyone can tell you whether it is load
bearing or required.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"car crash" wrote in message
...
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase
there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it
at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist
support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load
bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no
such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can
definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year
old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.

car crash wrote:
I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.

My gosh, get away from Lowes advice. There certain can be load bearing
components in the basement! Lots of them sometimes. The wall itself
may not be lead bearing, but some of its components could be, with the
wall used to disguise them and add esthetics to the area. I've seen it
especially in some of the newer construction around Nappean. No, not a
Cdn resident; just have friends there.

Pop`

Twayne wrote:
car crash wrote:

I am doing my basement and wanted to take out a wall near the
staircase. What concerns me is that at the end of the staircase there
are 2 2x4's that have a big yellow coloured 2x10 resting on it at the
top. Now this 2x10 is being held up by a steel floor joist support,
but what I was wondering if is that the 2 2x4's area load bearing
wall? Someone from Home Depot was telling me that there is no such
thing as a load bearing wall in the basement and that I can definitely
take it out.
Can anyone else provide input ? The house is brand new, 1 year old,
and built in Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks.


My gosh, get away from Lowes advice. There certain can be load bearing
components in the basement! Lots of them sometimes. The wall itself
may not be lead bearing, but some of its components could be, with the
wall used to disguise them and add esthetics to the area. I've seen it
especially in some of the newer construction around Nappean. No, not a
Cdn resident; just have friends there.

Pop`




Hmmm.
My guess is if you touch those, the staircase may be crashing down.
What kind of moron makes a statment like that? "No such thing as a load
bearing wall" If the house is brand new, didn't it come with a set of
blue print? If it did not, you can ask for a set from the builder or
even for a fee, you can get a copy from whoever did the drafting. I have
built 5 houses over the years and a cabin in the woods. Always secured a
set of blue print which shows everything, structual, electrical,
plumbing, etc.