I have a wall which separates the vanity area from the shower/toilet area. I want to remove this wall, but was surprised when I removed the drywall. As seen in the photo below there is a 2X12 header across the door and a double 2X4 plate across the top. There is no support beam or post in the basement under this wall and the joists in the attic do not lap over this wall.

The photo with the blue line shows where the wall is located in the attic and the trusses do not rest on joists over this wall (or any wall).

The other photo shows a general view of the truss system.

I'm stumped as to why this wall is built this way and need some direction.

The width of the wall (Iwant to remove) is between 4 and 5 feet.http://www.fpcc.net/~sgrimm/wall.jpg
http://www.fpcc.net/~sgrimm/location.jpg http://www.fpcc.net/~sgrimm/truss2.jpg

Other than the header, it doesn't look like a load bearing wall to me. Maybe they just had an extra header left from the outside walls, and used it. All the plates need to be double to make the height come out riught.

Looking at the picture with the blue line, the wall you want to take down does appear to be a load bearing wall. It runs perpendicular (sp?) to the trusses. The trusses appear to be 24" on center but I wonder if they are sitting on a ceiling that has joists 16" on center. You may want to dig through the insulation to make sure.

You do need a header over a door to help distribute the weight of the floor above to the studs around the door. (Jack and King studs) Normally a 2X8 or 2X10 is used but, as Labman postulates, the builder had a 2x12 available and used it.

I am not a builder or in the trades but I am an avid DIY'er and have always passed inspections on the work I have done.

Good Luck, Dan

You said "and the joists in the attic do not lap over this wall."

That tells me that this wall is not load bearing. To my limited knowledge, load bearing on walls is primarily a downward force, except outer walls-which would be downward and outward, beacause of the roof wanting to flatten.
However, with this wall not topped by the bottom of your roof trusses at any point, and its proximity to the outer wall on your house, I say you're OK. Swing the sledge.

If you're still iffy, then just call an inspector/archie/or construction foreman

Good luck,

atticguy

'' and its proximity to the outer wall on your house'' Good point I thought about later.

I did call an inspector and he confirmed it is not a load bearing wall. Worth the $200 for peace of mind. As a precaution (I am a little finicky) I built a strongback in the attic though it probably was not necessary.

The joists are 24 inches on center and are only 2X4 joists so I am assuming their primary purpose is to hold up the ceiling.

Thanks for the report. It is hard to knock somebody for making sure. It is too bad, but we just don't have anybody here on construction giving the quality of answers Speedball1 and tkrussel do in plumbing and electrical.

I think what you have are factory made trusses. They manage to make a bunch of 2 X 4's do the job of larger lumber.

Most of the time contractors use the same material for all door/ window headers. It keeps it a uniform opening throughout the house. It saves time on cutting cripples above a non-load bearing door/window opening. Usually if the stud is 8', the header is a 2x12. If the stud is 92 5/8 ("pre cut"), it's a 2x10.
As far as roof trusses are concerned, there are basically 2 bearing points. They are the exterior walls of each truss end. The trusses are enigineered so they can clear-span a structure. That's why you see the zig-zag webbing. One thing you should never do is cut/alter a truss or any of its webbing w/o consulting a structural engineer or unless you know what your doing.
So really if they are designed to transfer the load to the exterior walls, a house w/ trusses, technically really doesn't have interior load bearing walls. I've installed 50' trusses when building mini-markets and how many load bearing walls do you seen in them?
BTW, looking at your attic picture, if you have vented soffits, you may want to buy rafter vents. They are styro foam or plastic vents that go in the soffit area of the truss to help w/ air circulation in the attic.

The second picture with the blue line does have some supports that appear to go upwards to support the roof but they are about two feet away from the blue line. Do these supports have a structure beneath them to support them?

If the inspector has checked it out and has given the OK then you should be allowed to remove the wall.

It also appears that you will have to reroute the electric that runs down the wall.