Look above. If a wall doesn’t have any walls, posts or other supports directly above it, it’s far less likely that it’s load-bearing. This is also true when looking in the attic.

A load-bearing wall is just that — a wall that holds the weight of the house, including its contents, and transfers that weight to the foundation. A home’s exterior walls are load-bearing.

Dear Angie: How much does it cost to remove a load-bearing wall? In the basement of my home, there is a single concrete beam below the intersection of the living room, dining room and kitchen walls.

Rosie’s answer is, yes, with a good engineer and a big enough budget, you can get rid of any load bearing wall. The engineer will specify what is needed to support the ceiling in place of the wall.