[bolt in blue]

My house was built in 1960. In 1979, a previous owner remodeled the kitchen, removing two walls to open the room up. The kitchen is at the front of the house, with the stairs to the basement behind it, and then the dining room is on the back of the house. The owner removed the walls on either side of the stairs, replacing them with half walls.

Where the dining room wall was, the drywall is cracking. On the other side of the small remaining bearing wall, there is another significant crack. These cracks are generally stable, but have grown years we've had heavy snowfall (18+ inches accumulation). The cracks have been previously been repaired but always return.

When he removed the walls, the previous owner added two 2"x10"x10' boards in the attic to provide extra support, although these boards only run from the removed area part way into the remaining bearing section. These boards are nailed with one or two nails into each of the studs that go between the attic floor and roof. I don't think he added adequate support. If nothing else, I think I should add some screws to his supports.

Any advice on what I should do to reinforce my attic to stop the cracking? Thanks!

Cracking ceiling


Removed walls - back wall was bearing, front was not


Attic reinforcement

[ma0641]

That is a truss roof structure and as such is not load bearing per se. They installed upper style headers, sort of a strong back, to avoid the beam underneath. I don't see many nails in the joist to truss leg. That said, it was 36 years ago so a lot could have happened. I would make sure the ceiling was level and screw the joist to the truss. Is the support at the end of the wall, going back to the foundation?

[bolt in blue]

The ceiling is close to level, but is maybe 1/4" off level over the course of a 4' long level. It is higher where the support is. It actually appears that the kitchen wall (where it isn't cracked) is closer to the center line of the roof than the dining room wall (where it is cracked). The kitchen wall is directly above a steel beam and a steel column. The dining room wall is not directly supported below.