Hi everyone. I have a question I'm hoping you'll be able to help me with. I want to knock down a partial wall in between two room..

It's a wall in between my kitchen and family room. However just over half the wall is has spindles on it. So... because of this.. I can't see how it would be a load bearing wall. But, to be sure.. I figured I would ask others their opinion.
Please see the below pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Pr8NcF4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QI8AqJZ.jpg

Thanks!

Definitely not a load bearing wall. However, though you didn't ask be aware that the enclosed beam up at the ceiling is in all likelihood load-bearing - so after knocking out the lower wall and spindles you will still have that beam separarting the two rooms.

I had the exact same situation in my home, with this type of knee wall separating the kitchen from family room. We took out the knee wall, and applied trim to the overhead beam to dress it up a bit. We also framed out the edges and trimmed to dress up the transition between the two rooms, and laid hardwood in both rooms to give it a continuous feel.

I would agree with ebaines. There is a supported header above the current opening which most likely supports the ceiling joists. Is your roof a truss design or stick built? The spindles are purely for esthetics and are not rated for load bearing.

ma0641.. to answer your question.. when looking at the picture.. the room in the foreground of the picture is the kitchen.. and over that is a second floor with bedrooms and the like. The room in the background of the pic is a family room.. and over that is an attic.. with a truss design. Should this matter? I mean.. I couldn't imagine that the spindles would be able to support any significant weight..

@ebaines thanks for your reply. Yeah.. I knew the above was a header.. and I was assuming that is what would be transferring the weight. I just wasn't 100% positive that the spindles weren't doing "something" in the way of load bearing. I'll have to do something like you said and figure out a good transition..

I would open the wall up behind the 1/2 spindle and make sure the header is transferring back to the wall. If it is, you should be able to remove the spindles and knee wall.