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I am planning to renovate my kitchen and I would like to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. I have attached a photo of the wall (wall behind the stove) as well as the room on the other side of the wall. I have reviewed the joists in the house and I have been able to confirm that they run parallel with this wall. I have also confirmed there is no walls in the basement or second floor that are on top or below of this wall so I am pretty confident it wouldn't be load bearing. The house is from 1971, but from what I have been able to determine the load bearing wall is the wall behind the kitchen in that first photo as it runs perpendicular to the joists and also has walls in the same spot in the basement and second level, it is also the center of the house. Is there any reason why this wall would be load bearinenter image description hereg? I appreciate any feedback, thanks.enter image description here

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  • Without making a hole and seeing if that wall actually bears a load I'm not sure if there's anything else we can tell you on the internet. I think you've checked the common hints that you would normally be told to check. There is a stove there, so you at least have a high-amp electrical circuit to worry about.
    – JPhi1618
    Sep 10, 2019 at 19:56
  • With the wall running parallel I'd say it's unlikely, but not impossible. Based on your observations, I wouldn't think it was simply due to the direction it runs with the joists and not having any support under it in the basement. But I'm not a structural expert and would hate to point you towards the wrong conclusion.
    – Phaelax z
    Sep 10, 2019 at 20:08
  • I'm curious. Why knock out the wall and drastically change your kitchen? Where will the stove go and will you be able to run power to it?
    – JACK
    Sep 10, 2019 at 20:54
  • Trying to open up the kitchen to create more room and a more open concept plus we never use our formal dining room. The plan when that wall is removed is for the stove to be against the exterior wall and on the same counter as the sink/dishwasher. I have a relative that is an electrician that will work with moving the power.
    – Scottm
    Sep 10, 2019 at 20:58

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If the structure above this wall (the joists of the second level) is parallel to this wall, then it's highly unlikely that the wall is load bearing -- what load would it bear, if there's no structure present to bring a load onto the wall? The only possibility is that something like a joist lies directly on top of the wall and you haven't been able to discover it yet.

The planned renovation is going to involve quite a lot of drywall repair on the walls and at least a little bit of repair on the ceiling too. You've done all the due diligence that can be done. Now it's time to cut an inspection hole in the ceiling and visually confirm that nothing bears on the top of that wall. I suggest finding the locations of the nearest joist on each side of that wall and cut the hole on whichever side has more wall-to-joist space. You might also choose to cut the inspection hole on whichever side is easier to repair in case the project does not go forward, or whichever side will bother you less if the hole persists for some time until the project work does commence.

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