structural or not ?

[Robert D.]

I am planning to open up kitchen a little but. the house is a brick ranch built in 50s. the joists run perpendicular to the studs I plan to take out. the red lines are the way the joist are running from one wall to the other. the blue crosses depict studs I plan to eliminate. do you think any of the studs are load bearing ? all pictures depict the same kitchen. thanks

[J Scott]

If the joists above are running perpendicular to that wall, it's reasonable to assume (without any additional information) that the wall is load-bearing.

Two things you can check:

1.  If there's a single top plate along that wall, it's not load-bearing.  If there's a double top plate, it still may or may not be (many framers will use double-top plates for all walls, load-bearing or not.

2.  If you have a stick-framed roof, it's almost certainly load-bearing. If you have a truss roof, it may not be (though the truss may have been designed to need support).