I have a question related to removing stud wall in my unfinished basement (it's a one-story house). The wall in question appears like it was supposed to be a load-bearing wall, but because of other things the builder did it looks like it may not be. My terminology below may not be accurate... I'll try to upload some pictures later to help with my description.
The area on the main floor above the stud wall has a wall dividing an office from a bathroom. In the basement, the stud wall (that includes a door opening) sits underneath a partial I-joist. All of the other I- joists in this area span from the side of the concrete foundation wall to a true load-bearing (perpendicular to the joists) stud wall about
14ft away. The stud wall in question is parallel with all the joists above; however, the one joist that sits directly on top of this stud wall only goes across about 9ft and doesn't connect to the true load- bearing wall. Within 1.5 inches to the side of this partial joist are two full-length joists (side by side) that do span the entire length (ie - they rest on the slab wall as well as the true load-bearing wall). From my measurements, it appears that the wall above on the first floor is somewhat resting on the partial-joist below but is also somewhat resting on the double-joists immediately next to the partial- joist.It's a new house in a new neighborhood, so I asked the builder to come over and look at it. He said he wasn't sure why it was framed that way and said the wall could be removed because the double-joists directly next to this partial joist would sustain any weight from the wall above on the main floor. I've had another builder (a friend) come and he was "pretty" sure it would be okay to remove it. I guess I'm just looking for a few more thoughts as the last thing I want to happen is to compromise the structural integrity of the home.
I'm not sure of the type of joists that are used, so I'm not sure what they're rated for. I'm wondering how heavy typical finished wall (up above on the main floor) is and whether two of these I joists should be able to hold the weight. Also - what is the reasonable amount to pay for having an engineer come look at it? Thanks.