ELI5: load bearing

In engineering, load bearing describes a part of a structure that is strong enough to carry and support weight from above to keep the whole thing from falling down.

Think of building a human pyramid with your friends. The people standing on the very bottom are the strongest because they have to hold the weight of everyone climbing on top of them. If one of the people on the bottom steps away, the whole pyramid will crash. In a building, load bearing parts are just like those strong people on the bottom.

In the world of engineering, "load" simply means weight or force. This includes:

• The dead load, which is the heavy weight of the building itself, like the roof, floors, and bricks.


• The live load, which is the weight of things that move in and out, like people, furniture, and even heavy snow on the roof.

Here is an easy way to understand the difference inside a house:

• A load-bearing wall is holding up the ceiling and the roof. If you knock it down to make a bigger room, the ceiling might sag or collapse.


• A non-load-bearing wall is just a simple divider, like a curtain made of drywall. It only separates two rooms, holds up nothing but itself, and can be removed safely without the house falling down.