Framing is the skeleton of a house, and in the Pacific Northwest it's non-negotiable — rain, the occasional seismic reminder, and gravity don't cut corners. We opened a wall on a Seattle remodel to show the parts that actually hold a house up, so a homeowner can tell what's safe to move and what isn't.
Studs sit on a bottom plate and carry every load above — floors, roof, that bookcase you swear is temporary — straight down into the foundation. The workhorses of the house.
The moment you cut a stud for a window or a door, the header takes over: a beefy horizontal beam that spans the opening and sends the load down the sides through a king stud and a jack stud. Get this wrong and the floor above starts to sag.
The honest version: a load-bearing wall carries weight from above. A non-load-bearing wall divides space. We figure out which is which before we touch a stud — because the pretty part of a remodel only lasts if the bones underneath are still standing.
Scope
Framing inspection · load-bearing education
Anatomy
Studs · bottom plate · header · king & jack studs
Why it matters
Loads must be rerouted, not dropped
Market
Seattle
Every Baklinski project carries a 1-year warranty and direct access to Andrew & Niki, start to finish. We treat your home like our own.
