I want to make a 9ft opening in my load bearing wall between the kitchen and living room and I already put a 9 foot opening in my bedroom between 2 rooms that I merged. Can I have two large openings on the same load bearing wall? And if so How big does my header have to be? I made the bedroom header Out of (2) 2x10's. Thanks Pat

medic-dan

Can you have two openings, sure, but you probably should be talking to a structural engineer. A lot depends upon the loads on the floor or roof above, dimensions of lumber in the walls, not just the header, how the loads are transferred to the foundation, etc.

hkstroud

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Beantowndilly

It's probably best to reffer to a Design Data Sheet. It will help to determine what your composite load for snow and rain loads are for your municipality. They all vary depending on your location. It will also depends on how many floors you are supporting. Once you figure that out then you will get accurate numbers on a span chart that should comply for your area. Your best bet is to get a code book for your State or Province. All the information you need will be in it.