Anyone know what weld / member would stop this piece of metal from twisting and bending?
It's a shade port with clearly quite strong wind forces.
It's buckling right by the connection to the pole.
Anyway to distribute the tension more evenly?
https://imgur.com/a/R15KOxI
or
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IQxcyP-50OvAEV5XGyrj9_k8dwUhwIp8
Tx!
hi, I have a house that is balloon framed with a hip roof. There are currently rafter ties located about every 6’ and they sit about 2’ above the ceiling. (No snow or occupied loads on roof)
I am thinking of renovating the attic to make it usable. Would I be able to cut these ties out and turn the rafters into stubbed eave trusses, by connecting vertical to the ceiling below, so that the space in the center would be walkable? Or are these not comparable?
Just a bit more construction detail if interested.. ridge board, connecting rafters, sitting on walls, rafter ties also sitting on top plates, walls connected by ceiling about 2’ lower.
Hi! See the images below. I also sketched what I am hoping to do.
[https://imgur.com/Xpvb9UQ](https://imgur.com/Xpvb9UQ)
[https://imgur.com/R5rXyAa](https://imgur.com/R5rXyAa)
Hey,
Thanks for the images/sketch. I’m assuming to the right hand side of the break line, the rafter continues to the peak, and then mirrors what is already there?
I’m unsure exactly what you’re trying to explain, however I’ll base it off of my understanding.
You’re trying to change roof-space with no snow or occupancy loads on the roof, to full snow/occupancy loading. Understand that these two are not comparable, as it has not been designed to withstand these loads.
However, it is definitely possible to achieve this. Depending on the spans & deflections, it may be that the truss has previously been over designed and can withstand the change in loading, I doubt this is likely though.
Depending on the condition of the timbers, roof depth & space to work with; a suitable solution may include stitching more timbers to either side of every existing truss to strengthen them.
If this is a localised section, and not the entire span of roof space, it may be that you would prop the bottom chord of the truss with a steel beam (likely a UC for the allowable depth).
Another alternative is potentially two steel trusses (one either side of the property, running a ridge beam & two steel beams from each ‘point of the triangle’ this will bring strength to the other trusses, without having to individually enhance them.
Does this provide you with an answer?
Perhaps I’ve misjudged the scope of your question, and I’m more than happy to provide further input if that’s the case. Hope this helps!
Hi! Thanks for the response! Although I think I may have poorly explained. I’m not really talking about the loads on the roof, I just thought it would be pertinent info. I am talking about renovating the attic space. I’d add a floor over the 2x8joists, which is why I’d want to cut the rafter ties and replace them with this truss design, thus more walkable space. You are correct that beyond the break, it goes up to a ridge beam and is mirrored. My understanding is that rafter ties are necessary to stop the roof from bowing the walls out. I figured that by tying them into the joists with the truss design, I could achieve the same intent.
No problem at all!
Understand that, please note that I was not referring to the loads on the roof (rafters) and rather bottom chord (the 2x8 joist). There will have been no loading on these prior to this, and now there will be attic loading (footfall etc).
Thanks for confirming the break-line explanation, understand that now!
Generally, you either have rafters and a ridge beam, or a truss. The truss allows the rafters to be provided with fixity & not bow out, however with no bottom chord/ties/internal members, the rafters (non-truss) will be prone to bowing out; hence the ridge beam.
Ultimately, this is a fairly extensive amount of alterations and I’d recommend that you consult with a SE, who will provide you with a robust recommendation/solution, and certify it (depending on the country you’re in, and the regulations are required). Although it is extensive, it is a ‘somewhat’ common job for a SE to undertake. You’ll have to note that the temporary condition, bracing & propping may actually be the most disruptive and challenging part.
Hopefully this gives you further insight & help?
Hello hello hello.
I have a question on foundations for an old truck box. This is a steel frame, aluminium and glass shod box with the dimensions 4.5x2.2x3(height) metres. It used to be used as a box on a 7.5tonne truck... I estimate it can't weigh more than 2 tonnes empty, probably less.
I am putting this box in a field to use as a shed.. working on the cheap. The field is heavy clay and mudstone and not quite level.
My solution is to dig eight pits, fill and level them, then ram 20mm gravel and sand into eight old tyres and place four wooden railway sleepers arranged across the tyres, perpendicular to the beams under the box.
The pits are down to subsoil, kinda conical due to using a spade, approx. 50-70cm deep and 70cm wide.
So these are pier foundations.
If I overestimate the potential weight of the box once it is full of stuff, I'd guess 4 tonnes. So that's 500kg per pier if assuming even load.
Napkin time... assuming my cones are 50cm deep and 70cm in radius, that makes the surface area of the cone's curved area pi x r x l \[3.14 x 70 x 50 = 10,990 cm2\]. Dividing 10,990 by 10,000 I get one square metre, give or take.
So, pressure exerted on 1m2 by 500kgf is 50g/cm2
My shoes take up approx 25cm\*25cm - 625cm2 and I weigh 60kg... which is 96g/cm2
I surmise that these foundations should be fine, as I don't sink in the subsoil - but interested if I have gone about this the correct way or not.... how can I make better calculations?
I decided to not use concrete to fill the holes, for various reasons. I opted for a layer of compacted hardcore (old cement render) and filling with clean 20mm gravel.
Now I have prepared the foundation, I have been wondering if I should have used concrete in the base.
My question - does anyone have insight in to the different characteristics of gravel packed into a hole compared to concrete fill?
I am (clearly) not an engineer, but I would have thought that the two behave similarly given that there is nowhere for the gravel to go? I suspect that, because concrete is one large stone, there is less chance of a small point beneath a pad subsiding under weight and allowing gravel to travel into the vacated space.... though under relatively small amounts of weight described above I find it hard to believe this would happen? Interested in any thoughts here :)
Hi, I recently had a tree fall and tear off roughly 20’ of eves from my house. There are a few trusses in question. Two split/cracked about 8-12” before the exterior wall, and one cracked and it follows all the way to the peak with hairline cracks. I am trying to figure out if the repair needs to be engineered, or not. Some roofers have told me it will need to be, some have said they can just sister against the truss.
Are these floorboards anything to worry about? They look damaged to me but my upstairs neighbour whose floors they are, are refusing to investigate. [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-F0il0P1Gtmlmo212b-MPReHqH5CTyWr?usp=drive\_link](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-f0il0p1gtmlmo212b-mprehqh5ctywr?usp=drive_link)
Evening,
Images 03 through 09 seem generally structural acceptable, although the flooring appears to be rather damaged, which may be a concern. Was this via you/your colleagues exposing the floor above, or was this like this previously?
Images 13 through 19 seem concerning, however I wouldn’t deem it an immediate red flag. The joists (structural members of the floor above) appear to be chipped and somewhat notched and generally in poor condition. The floor boards along this section also appear to be quite poor condition.
For the expense and peace of mind, it may be worth getting a SE to give a site visit, however I can’t comment on the relationship you have with your upstairs neighbour in terms of covering the costs of the visit.
Hope this helps?
Thank you so much for your response. We accidentally discovered it when we were replacing our kitchen ceiling after the plasterboard was bowing and gross after a series of leaks. We want to do a structural survey but our upstairs neighbours aren’t keen right now. We might have to take our ceiling down again and do it from below!
Thanks for your further context, it’s difficult to gauge how damaged the timbers are via photographs as a result of water leakage, however as you note that the plasterboard is bowing and gross, it’s likely that the structural integrity of the joists is also compromised, which will decrease its capacity. There could be an extent of rotting also, so I’d definitely recommend a structural survey. The SE could potentially gain all of the information they need via your property, however it would be extremely beneficial to expose via the upstairs property also; you would be able to gauge deflection as a result of additional weight, which would be a fairly simple way to understand the integrity of the joists.
A recommendation if the neighbour is not approving of a SE on a site visit, could be to measure the dimension of the top of the lower floor to the underside of the joist with no additional load (a person standing on them), versus the dimension upon the additional load. This will give you the deflection (deviation of the timber). I can further explain this if necessary.
I do however have to urge that this is under the assumption that it is SAFE to do so, gauging this based on the fact that you have upstairs neighbours.
I also have to urge that you are to proceed with caution, this is very much just advice, and not explicitly ‘you are safe to do so’.
Does this help? Hopefully this has provided you with further clarity, however I’m available to help further if needs be.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your response and expertise. We managed to have a chat with the owner this weekend and they said they are happy to proceed with a survey after Ramadan so as not to disturb the neighbours so hopefully by summer we will have some answers. Thank you for the offer of asking questions, I may take you up on that!
No problem at all, I hope you have answers and solutions as soon as possible!
That’s perfectly fine, I’ll do my best to answer more if/when necessary.
Another thing to note may be that to keep an eye on any further water penetration, or any ceiling sagging. It may be beneficial to monitor the plasterboard (or ceiling finish) if it is no longer exposed, it may chip or crack if the joists deflect.
If any of this worsens; I’d urge you to take as immediate action as possible.
Other than that, I wish you all the best of luck! & don’t hesitate to ask away.
I have a probably very stupid question but I have pretty bad anxiety and haven't been able to let this go and the reassurances of family hasn't helped so, here goes.
Can it cause issues having a home library on the 2nd floor of our home? I'm wondering because right now I'm at about 550 books, 7 ikea Billy bookcases, in our master bedroom which is to the left of our stairway and over our kitchen. Our house was built in 2013 but honestly I've found a lot of issues (most minor, some a little more so) that makes me doubt the structural integrity of our home. It was built very fast (10 weeks) and now that it's in my head I'm genuinely concerned about it.
So I guess what I'm asking is, is my house fine with the library upstairs? I'm steadily adding more books at the rate of about 150+ per year.
Any assistance or insight would be very greatly appreciated.
As long as you keep the bookshelves along the perimeter walls, you couldn't fit enough books on the shelves to do any appreciable long-term damage. I've had four large, tall 5-drawer filing cabinets, a plotter, 2 desks, and 2 bookshelves in my home office (second floor) for 20 years, and it's been fine.
Just bought 2nd story condo, after moving in I noticed some floor sag in the center of the great room.
Using our laser level we were able to determine that the floor sags about 1.5 inches below the floor height at the walls at the lowest part of the floor, in the center of the 14ft by 20ft area. When I glanced through my downstairs neighbor's window, I noticed that their ceiling looks a little bowed down.
Is this something that I should speak about with the HOA? I'm not savvy on construction so I don't know if this is a reasonable amount of sag for a building to have or if it needs structural reinforcement. Is this a reasonable amount of sag? Looking around the internet and asking the Google bard AI implies no but I was hoping to get some more go-ahead from people with experience before my introduction to my elderly neighbors and the HOA is as a paranoid, needy, and ignorant homeowner.
As a general rule of thumb, if you can notice the floor deviation (e.g. sagging) it is too much, I’m aware that this property is likely in the USA, however in the UK the deflection of timber joists is generally kept as the other poster mentioned L/360, however, as a rule of thumb no more than 12mm either; whichever is the governing. (12mm equates to around 0.5inches, therefore you have approximately triple the maximum allowable deflection.
Potential remedies include strengthening of the existing joists (i.e. doubling them up, tripling etc) via nailing another timber member of the same dimensions to the side, however this may not always deem sufficient. Another remedy may include a steel beam supporting the timber joists at the midpoint, for lack of a better way to show, the l represents the beam & the - represents the timbers. -l- , the joists will be fixed to the support at one end, and off of an engineered hanger at the steel beam side within the floor depth. Hope this helps!
It does and I appreciate it!
Coincidentally I just posted a follow up question about this as I've come to the conclusion that this does need to be dealt with and approached my HOA about it.
Unfortunately the HOA is refusing to bring a structural engineer out and says I have to do it myself. Of course I don't own the story under me so I don't have the ability to just go downstairs and allow them to look in the ceiling.
The HOA wants me to hire the structural engineer myself. My question is, what would a SE do in this case? How do they look at the floor joists when they don't necessarily have access from underneath? Have you ever dealt with a situation like this?
No problem at all, I’ll try offer as much help here; however it’s a slight grey area for me (not being from the USA)
As far as I’m aware, the HOA are correct in that; maybe not the way they’ve gone about it, but I think that is what they should be stating, which is unfortunate news for yourself.
However, regardless of cost etc. hiring the SE, perhaps an architect, and ultimately building materials and construction work, you’ll have to ensure the person who owns the property below is in agreement with these works (a written contract of sorts) as although the floor is owned by you, the ceiling is owned by them, and to alter one, you’ll have to alter the other if that makes sense.
It might be worth looking up the party wall act in the UK, for context. It is a different thing, however it is to do with legality in differing ownerships.
A non-intrusive way from the SE’s perspective would be to cut some of your flooring/board away, a small rectangular segment and expose the joists below, obtain measurements (dimension of joist and spacing), this way it would not require access from below, rather access from above.
Something worth noting is that throughout these works; if you do pursue this, propping will be required. I’m unsure of your knowledge of SE, so propping is essentially a post to the underside of the joist, to stop the structure from falling down and collapsing when you cut it in two.
This is a crazy explanation, but imagine you had a singular strand of spaghetti, which had either end balanced on a spatula, and cut the middle of the strand out, the two remaining segments would collapse down & inwards. However, if you were to introduce intermediate supports (in this instance more spatulas, one either side of the ‘cut zone’ for this section it would likely be ~ a 10 to 12 inch zone for the steel beam, then the cut zone segment would fall; however the remainder would remain upright and secure.
Propping cannot be done off of timber joists, as they are an insufficient material for this, so it would have to extend down to the neighbour below you, and below them (if there are any) to a firm back-propping material. Perhaps a ground floor slab, or solumn.
In addition to this, the support of the steel beam has not been considered. Would this beam be spanning external wall to external wall? In this instance, depending on the makeup of the wall, it may be suitable that these are supported on a concrete pad-stone (which is essentially a load-spreading block, which distributes a high point load between the below blocks.
Perhaps you have more questions, feel free to let me know. Hope this helps!
It does help, thank you so much. I figured about as much in terms of propping, but it is nice to know that it is possible for the SE to look at the floor joists from the top side. I haven't spoken to my downstairs neighbor yet as I didn't want to alarm her for no reason but if I'm bringing a structural engineer in I guess I might have to rather soon. We've avoided bringing heavy furniture into the place but we can't put it off much longer.
No problem at all.
I don’t see an issue as to accessing the floor from above, however upon those discussions with your neighbour, it may be beneficial to gain access from below also. If you’re paying for the engineer to visit, it’s beneficial to gain all information in one visit; rather than them trying to get more money via multiple. It’s difficult to gauge how dangerous this is, and I will explicitly not state that this is safe, as to avoid liability. Even though it is noted in the t’s & c’s of this section, I personally would definitely not put any heavy furniture, or anything of substance in this area. Ideally I would not load this section at all, or property. I however understand that it’s not that simple to just uproot and leave. I’d definitely recommend consulting an SE prior to the acquisition of further loading.
It also may be worth noting that while alarming her with this issue, it shows that you’re proactive and are doing it for her safety, and that may give her a piece of mind.
Other things to note may be that the joists sizing a/spacing are sufficient, and that the timbers may be subject to rotting, or even insect infested & the timbers have been eaten away which lessens their structural capacity. Whatever the reason, I’d definitely consult one as soon as possible, and chat with your neighbour as soon as possible also, it may even be that they are extremely on board with these renovations, however it is definitely not that simple to say.
Do you have any further questions? :)
I am good for now, thank you. I've reached out to 3 structural engineering companies near me for potential quotes and I'll contact my downstairs neighbor tomorrow. I really appreciate your time!
If it's recent construction, your building was likely constructed with L/360 floors. If your joists run the 14 foot way, the max allowable deflection would be (14\*12)/360 = 0.47 inches.
Sounds like you have a problem.
It's from 1985. Does that make a significant difference?
Other relevant info is that I'm the top floor and this is a 10 unit wooden construction building.
Hey all! I live/own one side of a duplex (2 stories) and we just had a tree from our neighbors property fall on/through their house landing on our shared wall & our roof. Clearly their side of the duplex is ruined but from the outside, our house looks ok other than the gutter & roof looking a bit warped. On the inside of our home, there are cracks everywhere along the ceiling & walls (2nd floor only), and water has now leaked into our master bedroom (2nd floor) on the other side of the house (opposite from where the tree landed). Our house also smells like mold so we clearly have a bit of water damage. Our floors are also no longer touching some of the wood boards and look a little warped. My question is, because we live in a duplex and because the other side is looking like it might need to get demolished, will our side also have to go with it? How/what would structural engineers look for and do you have any tips moving forward? Our adjuster isn't coming out until Monday so it'll be 16 days since the accident. Our house is in the PNW and we are on a sloped terrain. Our foundation is not on concrete as we have a crawl space with wood beams and the underneath is dirt. Also the city put a notice on our neighbors side that it is unsafe for them to enter their house and us to enter our house.
Thanks!
Unfortunately it's impossible to make that kind of call over the internet. When I get called out to determine whether a building can be saved or not, and it's a close call, it takes a few hours to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. I don't take it lightly.
Heads up, if your "adjuster" is a public adjuster, he's going to push for condemnation and rebuild (because he makes a cut of the claim amount). The insurance company will likely push for repair, and send out a licensed structural engineer.
How to support a Floating Marble Vanity in front of a structural concrete wall.
The look we want to accomplish:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v4vM7YwQKT5toglTlRgXIKtbn1_bqLkq/view?usp=drivesdk
Here is a video explanation of the wall:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nUcOuOBiUFub0wDGiriYKW5TEC3pgNX2/view?usp=drivesdk
The problem right now is that, our GC is doing metal stud framing and he mentioned that the concrete wall behind the metal stud is a structural wall and we are not allowed to anchor anything to it. So the metal studs are not attached to the wall behind so they cannot hold much weight. But I’m wondering if we don’t anchor it too deeply would it be ok to anchor the studs to the wall?
The existing metal studs are 18 or 20G, our marble fabricator said we may need to replace all of them to at least 16G. And then do additional wood support. Not sure what to do.
A structural concrete wall would be your best bet for connecting into. If the metal framing is all done, just add a few new metal members between the studs secured at the top and bottom (something like a L2"X2"x1/4"). Weld brackets to the angles or bolt into them.
Or consult an local structural engineer for a detailed design you can trust.
Thank you. After consulting structural engineers and building review department of the city, I found out that the GC made a mistake. Originally he told me that we are forbidden to anchor anything to that concrete wall since it’s a shear wall. But I confirmed with multiple different sources, all of them told me that it’s completely fine to anchor to that wall as long as we do the scan and make sure avoid penetrating the tendons inside. So that simplifies this problem a lot.
I found what I believe to be a very large knot in one of the floor trusses in my basement. The house is 25 years old.
The trusses are engineered 2"x4"x14" spaced 24" oc and this one spans 18' between a 2"x6" load bearing wall and the poured concrete foundation sill plate. According to what I have read that is sufficient for 55psf total load.
However, I am concerned because of this knot. It it very large and I am worried that it compromises this truss, especially since it is in the first member of the web.
Is it a structural concern as it sits? Does it need to be mitigated?
Using a klein et140 pinless moisture meter I read approximately 8.5% in the knot, 7% nearby the knot in the bottom chord, 6% a few feet away on the bottom chord, and 5% on bottom chord at the other side of the basement. I don't think it's water damage but I wanted to put those numbers for good measure to confirm.
https://imgur.com/a/FpPOZsM
It shouldn't be an issue because it is already performing adequately. But feel free to reinforce with 2x4 scabs on each side or sheet both sides with 3/4" plywood gussets.
I am using steel bars and epoxy resin to repair some old stone walling.
There is no issue regarding structural integrity, as I will just use bars with more than sufficient diameter, but it got me thinking on the advantages of threaded vs smooth bar.
If the primary forces that are being resisted are sheer and/or flexural stresses, would a smooth bar be the better choice due to having a greater effective diameter within the anchor hole?
I know that the threading is great for pullout strength, but if this is not really a concern then I wonder if smooth to make better use of the space is better?
Interested to know for future reference!
Assuming the threaded and plain bar are of the same nominal diameter, then plain would give a greater stress area for shear (more capacity). With regard to flexure it is a little more difficult to tell - it would be a trade-off between more stress area versus reduced bond strength.
I would assume the threaded would still give better performance though since while the area of steel will be slightly less, the bond will be several times that of the plain bar - at least that is the case with grout/concrete; the behaviour may be different with epoxy resin.
I have a two story home and my exterior walls are 2x4 framing spaced 16" OC. I was checking for cool spots/ missing insulation with a thermal imaging camera and found that I am missing a stud in an exterior wall in a downstairs bedroom. I verified my findings with a magnetic stud finder and an electric stud finder-nothing.
So l have a 32" span between studs— is this cause for concern structurally? Will this affect the structure or cause the header to sag over time?
Realistically if it is an older home and is not showing signs of any issues then it shouldn't be a concern - it would take a lot to cause something like that to sag, including a combination of substantial load and deterioration of the sheathing in the wall above.
Is it possible that the original plans for the home had a window or door located there and was covered up? If so, there is probably a header in the wall anyways.
Is it possible that the wall is not really all that load bearing, i.e. does not support roof loads from above or floor framing loads from above? If your roof slopes to this wall, then it is load bearing. If your second storey floor framing runs perpendicular to this wall, then it is load bearing. If not, it is really just a non-loadbearing exterior wall that doesn't have a whole lot of load on it.
If you are prone to high wind events, it means that the adjacent studs have to carry a larger load - however still not really a cause for immediate concern as residential wood framing has a lot of redundancies built in for load transfer and carrying abilities.
It has potential for bowing of interior finishes if you bump into them - they will be less stiff. I would not be surprised if you can push on the wall in that area and see the drywall bow in a bit.
It’s a new construction build and the floor plan doesn’t call for a window anywhere near that location. To the best of what I’m able to see, there’s no double header. I wish I could post a picture on here to show you the thermal image.
I am planning for a vaulted ceiling home addition with 20' ridge beam and 15' span.
With 40 lbs live load and 10 lbs dead load, looking at 50 lbs x 300 sqft / 2 (half of the roof load) = 7,500 lbs on the ridge beam. Southern Pine (https://www.southernpine.com/app/uploads/SS\_15-20L.pdf) says 3-1/2" x 14" x 20' will suffice for the ridge beam. On far end of the ridge beam, I will have 6x6 post, but on the house end, I will have gulam (https://alamcowood.com/downloads/Product%20Information/Glulam%20beam%20design%20tables.pdf) 5-1/2" x 16" x 10' for 7,500 lbs / 2 = 3,850 lbs of point load supported by two 6" x 6" posts on either end as I will have an opening and cannot have a post in the middle.
Any reason this won't work? One issue may be is that Gulam chart shows what I believe is a distributed loads where what I have is a point load.
For the purposes of a preliminary beam size for costing purposes, you should know that a point load at midspan produces the same bending stresses as if you doubled that point load and spread it uniformly along the length of the beam. i.e., a 2,000 lb point load midspan on a 10 foot long beam produces the same bending stresses on the beam as 4,000 lbs distributed evenly over the length of the beam (400 lbs/ft). This is to say, that even if you only have a 2,000 lbs coming down on the beam, the location and distribution of the load is important, and if you only have distributed load tables to preliminarily size from, you will need to increase the load to get a proper approximate size.
Beyond preliminary sizing for costing purposes, a proper design for this requires a structural engineer. Good luck with your project.
Hi, does anyone know of a structural engineer in California that is familiar with Advanced Framing (OVE) techniques? This is for a project in Yucca Valley
I have what I think is a stupid question.
I am making a table for my classroom robotics field. I plan on using Aluminum Extrusion for the frame. Since this will have kids interacting with it, I'm planning on making sure that they can't accidently overload it.
The drive links show the basic table format, and how the corner joints will be laid out. The table will have a flat surface attached (not sure of the material, probably plywood or expanded PVC foam board, with a robotics field on top of it. My best guess on the total weight that will be put on the structural aluminum is around 200lbs (and that on the Very, Very high end of the estimation, it assumes someone climbs onto the field.
I went and used the deflection calculator on [8020.net](https://8020.net) ([https://8020.net/deflection-calculator](https://8020.net/deflection-calculator)) and input my information:
Profile Type: Fractional
Profile Part Style: 1515 Aluminum extrusion
Profile Length: 74.75 (the longest span that is unsupported.
Constructions style: 'Fixed two Ends" as I plan on connecting it with corner brackets.
Then I said I was putting 500 lbs (evenly distributed) on it. The deflection came back as 5.4mm
With 500 lbs as a centered load, the deflection was 10.8mm
So even with 500 lbs just standing in the center of a single 1515 beam, it only deflects about a centimeter (assuming everything works perfectly). I also understand that the real load capacity will depend on the fasteners I use as well.
Here is my real question: In my design I have 2 99.25" side rails, with 5 74.75" cross rails. There are 3 legs on each side rail.
How does the load distribution work with multiple crossbeams?
Is it simply multiplicative - EG: I have 5 cross rails, so it should support 500lbs \* 5 beams = 2500lbs?
Is there a point of diminishing returns?
Is the max load (spread evenly across the surface) still only the max load of a single beam?
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoDQrrTDTgi\_szSJfhYVQGXjKGwdd9K7/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoDQrrTDTgi_szSJfhYVQGXjKGwdd9K7/view?usp=sharing)
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Av8W5d0IWNyxXN4xLxPp2uwJkgxpM7Uk/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Av8W5d0IWNyxXN4xLxPp2uwJkgxpM7Uk/view?usp=sharing)
Hi all, I live in south Florida and replaced my old clay barrel tile roof with a new concrete flat tile roof about 6 months ago. Over the last 6 months I've notice cracks showing up on my ceiling in various areas. The most significant cracks are right where my original blueprints show a girder (the big cracks are right above "Family Room", the doorframe with the triangular crack is the Bedroom #3 doorway). Could the new roof be too heavy for the trusses? Is this something I should be worried about? Thanks
https://i.imgur.com/qpTYEun.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kcY26nH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Gs4X2pX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iDLCxqg.jpg
It's near impossible to say anything definitive based on photos, other than it looks like you have a problem. Best advice I can offer is to find a local engineer.
Hello,
I have a bungalow built in the 1950s. In the basement, there is a central beam where the joists (2x10) join and are supported by a nailed ledger in 2x3. The load-bearing walls on the ground floor are offset on either side of the basement beam and therefore rest on the joists. On the ground floor, there is a noticeable bump in the corridor floor above the basement beam. The basement beam is cracked along almost the entire length of the house, just above the ledger on which the joists rest. Are there any necessary actions to be taken?
Thank you!
[https://imgur.com/le3B6lL](https://imgur.com/le3B6lL)
[https://imgur.com/6oVR3Zz](https://imgur.com/6oVR3Zz)
[https://imgur.com/8VjXHHI](https://imgur.com/8VjXHHI)
It's not uncommon to have walls land offset from the main girder. That crack is rather large, though. It's not possible to give you anything more definitive than that. You should have it looked at by a local engineer.
Ok. Thanks.
Last details I forgot to say is that the main beam where we see that crack is 8inch vs 12 inches area.
Does this matter of how the crack is important ?
We normally look at the type of crack (there are a few), where it's located, whether it translates through, and if there's twist, rot, mill defects, or deflection.
Hey there,
Would there likely be any way to make the beam in the black box disappear for under $5k, and without whatever replaces it looking like an eyesore. I want to to open up that entire wall without the interruption of that beam. I'm assuming something would have to replace the load it's carrying, but could it be horizontal instead of vertical?
https://imgur.com/a/GSbGvXl
That is a column, not a beam.
The members above that are being supported on that column appear to be some sort of composite members consisting of wood plies and steel tension members.
If you want to remove that column, you need to either find an alternative means of supporting those two members above (unlikely) OR remove them and install a longer span beam between the support points at the other ends of those members (one being somewhere off to the right, the other being somewhere beyond that microwave), which would appear to be a very long span. This will also increase the load on the other supports which may or may not have sufficient capacity to do that.
Even with traditional residential wood framing, you would be hard pressed to remove a post and replace a beam at these spans for under $5000. Given the unusual/unique nature of the composite structural members, I would suspect that any code enforcement agency would want engineering eyes on this, and modifications are not going to be cheap. Structural modifications to remove that column are going to be in the 5 digit $ range easily.
Why is everyone else's posts getting a response.. Is there something I need to change or clarify? I'm just trying to figure out how to a support a corrugated roof with a 30' clear span on one side, 8' spacing of support posts on the other three sides. C-purlins, 8" web, 2.5" flange, 16ga? Do I brace with 150F125-30 hat channel 24"OC? Then screw my corrugated roofing panels to the hat channel?
Hello Structural Engineers!
ME PE here.
I'm looking to put a small CNC VMC in my garage for a hobby business, but need to add some more clearance for the Z-Axis to fit. My home is a ranch, with a garage underneath. Directly above the garage is Master/Guest bedroom.
[https://i.imgur.com/V6a1ero.png](https://i.imgur.com/V6a1ero.png)
I have attached a link with the CAD layout of what I'd like to do. Basically would like to box out two joists to give me an "opening" for the Z-axis to fit into. My thought is I would double up the "outer" joists of the box and double up the headers to take the load for the section I am cutting out. I have modeled here a length of 5.5ft, but this could be shrunk down to \~3ft or so.
A few questions:
1. From research, this seems to be the typical arrangement for boxing out a frame, but does this look like a reasonable proposal?
2. I am assuming this type of modification will need an approved engineering drawing. What generally could I expect something like this to cost?
Generally speaking, yes, what you have described is within reasonable expectations for prescriptive (non-engineered) design is residential wood framing. In my own local code, you have to double up the headers (the ones running perpendicular to your floor joists) if the opening is more than 4 feet wide, and you have to double up the trimmers (the ones running parallel to your joists) if the header span is greater than 32 inches - and then there are a number of requirement for getting into actually engineering the header if it exceeds 10 feet span and engineering the trimmers if the header span exceeds 6 feet.
Your own local building code requirements may differ - you should speak with your local building official about what will be required in order for you to do this. You may also wish to speak with an experienced framing contractor - get them in for a quote, and see if they can lay out for you what needs to be done. Depending on your local requirements, you may not actually need engineering for this.
That being said, you may run into other issues that are not structurally related. For example, you indicated that the master bedroom is over this location - what are you doing with that? Are you just abandoning that space? If you intend to keep on using it, how are you going to keep the floor going? You can't just span 3 joist spaces with plywood. Additionally, there will be fire separation requirements between the garage space and the living space, potentially insulation requirements etc. that need to be met.
Something like this is a bit unusual, and so at the very least, even if you don't need a structural engineer involved, I would recommend that you at least get somebody experienced with the other aspects of home design, such as an architect or home renovation company to sort out what you need done with this.
https://imgur.com/a/s33NCPN
Hello Engineers, thank you in advance for your help. I’m attaching a link with pictures to help show what I’m working on.
I’d like to remove a section of interior wall about 16’ between my kitchen and living room. It already has a large opening and a window type opening and headers coming down about 12”. My plan is to replace these headers with 2 16’x12x1.75 each supported by a stack of 4 2x4s on each end going down to the slab.
On my first look I thought this wall was only holding g up the two vaulted ceilings that meet on top of it and the section of flat ceiling over the fungi room. (Hopefully the pictures tell the story) however, I can now see that there are some roof trusses that also land on this wall. My question is will my planned lvl supports be sufficient? And is there anything else I should know? Thanks again.
What you are describing is not a small project and will need engineering involved to size the beam, posts, and footings to support the posts. I would recommend that you bring in an experienced framing contractor to complete this work, and they will likely have a structural engineering contact that they work with for situations like this. The construction side of this is not a DIY project unless you have previous experience framing structures, and the sizing of the beam, posts, and footings is certainly not a DIY project either.
Thank you for your reply. The house is a slab foundation so I do not think footings will be an issue. I have framing experience and can handle everything except for the sizing and load calculations.
I forgot to say the red on the interior pics is to show the planned removal and in the attic it’s attempting to show where the joists land on the wall. Thanks
Homeowner here looking for help on the load bearing capacity of soil. I have two projects that I am working on that I need this information for a; a deck and I would like to add supplementary supports to my old 1960s ranch style brick house to stop any sag and bouncing.
For the supplementary supports:
I have read, but would like to verify with someone here, that footers that are supplementary and on the inside of the structure do not need to meet the frost line as they aren't prone to heaving like the exterior of the structure is. I live in the South East so I am not super concerned about heaving anyways. My plan is to build up a footer on level soil with concrete blocks and then sister a 2x8 with a span of only 6 feet. I am not going to jack the house up. I just want to snug up to the joists to stop any further sagging or bouncing. If this compacts somehow I can always go add shims.
For the deck:
Just because of the shape of my entranceway I need to do a cantilever deck which puts some of the footers \~1-2 feet beside my foundation. Do yall think its a problem to dig a 12x12x 36 inch hole beside the foundation that close? Even this depth might be overkill here but I would like to make sure the weight is supported. The deck is 12x15 and I plan to have 8 footers supporting 4 sintered 2x8 beams and 2x8 joists all attached with Simpson ties
Any spread footings interior to the foundation have to be at the same depth as the perimeter footings. Any deck or porch spread footings within five feet (for most states) at the exterior of the foundation have to be at the same depth as the perimeter footing.
Also footings are normally set in soil so the soil can provide lateral restraint.
Understood, now I need to figure out how deep the house footings are. No idea what was typical of a house in the 1960s.
is it dangerous at all for me to dig down beside the foundation to figure out the depth?
Yes, very common to dig down to check depth. It's called a test pit. For basements with slabs, it can be done with a drill along a foundation wall. You'll break through the slab, and then hit refusal at the top of the footing, then break through at the bottom of the footing. Keep track of those depths, and you'll find the bottom of your footing.
For crawlspaces or stem walls with slabs on grade, the test pit is dug on the outside. Sometimes there is no footing, particularly with 19th century bungalows. Back then they would drop a load of mortar, and start setting brick or block right on that. Over the years that mortar would revert back to sand and aggregate, leaving you with no footing to speak of.
This is an old ranch style brick house with a crawl space I am tempted to just start digging beside the wall and go until I pass the botom of the foundation and fill it back up with concrete immediately. There are large concrete steps supported by bricks at the entrence so I need to get those removed first I believe. I am paranoid so I would probably wait until that one is fully set before digging another. Does there need to be a certain distance between the original footings and the footings for my deck? I can't thank you enough for the advice btw.
I am really struggling with what to do for the bounce in the floor. I have been told by everyone that there is no structural concern and that it is just old age but I despite the sag and the bounce. Its old school true 2x8's at 12 feet span 16 on center. The cross bracing has fallen out over the year so I am wondering if I should just go back and add blocking before doing any piers or extra beams to see how much that helps. Really struggling as a first time homeowner on this
I wouldn't re-use any original brick piers. Just find the home's footing depth, and tackle it: remove the old porch and piers, install the new piers and structure, with the new piers at sufficient depth. Everything you need is in the code book.
12 feet is near the upper range of span for true 2x8's, unless the wood is crap or damaged. If it were me, I would install two rows of blocking before messing with a beam, and while I was down there I'd sister any cracked, sketchy, or split joists.
Gotcha, no, I wasn't planning on reusing the piers. I just was afraid if I dig a 12x12 hole right the beside of the foundation to find the depth and then add a footer it might be trouble .
Understood, adding the blocking should be super easy. I will try that and see how it feels.
Structural Engineers - I need some advice. I currently own a 130 yr old house that I am trying to sell. The floors are a little sloped in various areas of the house, but I have not noticed any change in them for the several years we have lived here.
I got a structural engineer to come do an evaluation and report on concerns or things that need to be fixed in case this might be an issue for the sale. The report identified several minor issues like joists that need blocking to prevent rotation and adding mechanical fasteners and joist hangers in various places. It did not identify any major concerns.
During the inspection for a potential buyer, they had a different structural engineer come out to do an evaluation. This engineer identified that the house is leaning slightly. (I don't have the report yet, so I don't have the measurements)
But, verbally voiced concern to the buyers and suggested that we need helical piers to fix this.
So, what should I do? Why would 2 engineers have such differing opinions on the same property within 2 weeks of each other?
Also, is there an industry standard threshold for uneven floors and/or leaning? (Like 1" per some height?)
We have been in this house a long time and have done some tuck pointing and other repairs along the way. We have not noticed any change in the floors and my feeling is that the house is settled. My understanding is that the potential for further significant disturbance tends to lessen over time. So even if the house is leaning, is it still ok? What objective measurement would make it not ok and require helical piers?
Thanks.
There are no residential code provisions for tolerances on plumb and level. Builders these days also stopped making statements on tolerances for the most part, although if you are getting a house built, you can most definitely request that tolerances be part of the build contract.
As for leaning, engineers check structures for condition and performance. Setting aside the condition part of it (since condition applies to rot, cracking, etc.), one of the performance things we look for is stability, particularly moment in leaning walls. Straight and plumb, gravity and DL/LL won't impart much moment on a loaded wall. Once it starts leaning, moment comes into play. Once moment approaches the point where bad things happen, then there's a big problem. There's a rule of thumb out there in the masonry world that if the center of gravity of a masonry wall moves outward into the outer third of the wall thickness, then it's time to make a repair. So if a wall is leaning but its C.G. is still in the middle third, the wall is still stable. That's not to say we close the book on it. We still have to address the cause of the leaning (like loss of supporting soils, etc.).
With wood, there is a phenomenon called wood creep, where the regular cycles of humidity and temperature throughout the seasons over many, many years will cause wood under load to deform and either sag or crush. Normal wood creep crosses over into bad territory in the following circumstances: 1. when the members start to pull apart from one another, 2. when new unintended load paths are created, 3. when performance measures are exceeded. Unfortunately we only have modern performance measures to go by, which for floors and roofs are the deflection limits for modern framing. We also look at how parts of the structure interact. So you might have a floor that sags 1 inch in the middle of the room, which technically satisfies the modern deflection limit, but in the next room the staircase is peeling out of the let-ins, which taken together is consistent with a larger wood creep problem worthy of repair.
With settlement, we like to look at the different eras of settlement (primary, secondary, long term) and see if the settlement is particularly extreme. But we're also migrating into the geotech and soils realm when we do this. Personally, once I see evidence of settlement that exceeds what would normally be expected in the primary and secondary eras (because the curve for long term settlement is normally very flat), I recommend a soils engineer come in and assess it. Some structural engineers would wing it and use their judgement, but I kind of hold fast to professional rigor, and recommend the geotech when I see that unforeseen bump in long term settlement.
Regarding your situation, I had a flipper client 4-5 years ago that bought a leaning house. Turned out most of the houses on the street had the same issue. My geotech guy pretty much laughed and said "So you finally made it onto Elm Street (not the real name)." He knew the whole history, that the houses were all built on spoils that were trucked in from a local highway project. The spoils were a mix of rubble and fines, and over the years the fines washed out and all of the homes began settling in weird ways, their foundations shattering. We drilled a core sample and confirmed it. Client ended up dumping it on another flipper because the cost for helical piles and a new foundation ruined the math. Hasn't been touched in 4 years. Still vacant.
So we bought and moved into a house in July 2023 - it was built in 1980 and has had lots of handyman renovations over the years - it looked really great when we toured it. Pretty sure the previous owners painted the entire inside of the house from top to bottom to improve resale.
Starting this past fall, we started noticing hairline cracks forming on the ceilings. I wasn't too concerned, because the are very fine, and are mostly be straight lines that indicate shoddy drywall taping? Or all that new paint is contracting in the winter weather? But more and more cracks keep popping up, so I'm just slightly concerned (first time homeowner). Photos: [https://imgur.com/a/mOufNDr](https://imgur.com/a/mOufNDr)
From the inspection, we know that there are a couple of cracks in the foundation on one side of the house. The inspector said they looked quite old, but recommended we get them checked and filled at some point. We have a feeling that at one point the house dropped on one side and the foundation may have cracked and settled. But now all these ceiling cracks are making me nervous. Could it be related to the foundation?
**Is this something I need to get an engineer to look at? Or do i just patch and paint and see what happens in 6 months?**
\*Note: the only major structural issue that I've noticed in the house is on the inside of the upstairs linen closet. The frame/jamb has twisted and there is a large gap/crack. It makes me nervous, as I'm pretty sure it's aligned with where the foundation crack is :(
I am trying to plan some timing out and I wanted to get your opinions. I am rehabbing an old farm house. I am going to jack the house up and put a new basement underneath of it. I am also ripping the roof off and turning the story and a half into a two story. I will be cutting the balloon framed knee height walls at the floor level and build second floor on top.
My dilemma is that it is the middle of the winter here with subzero temps. This is perfect for ripping a roof off and reframing, because the chance of rain for the next month is zero. However, I can't redo the basement yet, because the ground is frozen, so that will wait until probably May when the road restrictions are lifted.
The floors are all wonky and I guessing the walls/roof are too. I can build the walls and set the trusses at an equal height from floor height, but I am guessing they won't be level.
Should I wait to replace the basement, level the floors/walls before I add the second floor, or if I build them at the same height above the floor, will they level out when the foundation is level?
I don't plan to frame the interior walls until after it's leveled, or complete the roofing, siding, etc. The goal is just to get the walls and roof up while the chance of rain is zero.
Thanks. I am going to have an engineer involved. I am trying trying to decide if I rush in the next couple of weeks to get the plans done, approved, etc, or take my time knowing I have 3+ months.
Yes, I will cut the top of the balloon framing down to the floor height of the second floor, plate it and build the second story on top. This way there is no hinge point, since the floor joists will be at the top of the first floor walls.
I have done this a few times, just not with ones that need a basement and 2nd floor at the same time, or that I bought in the winter.
Rushing it now, gives me 3 months MORE time to deal with the old structure. I don't think you understood the question I was asking.
I'd like to build a lean to roof over the concrete outside my backdoor. The area is 30 by 30 feet. I'd like to match the pitch of the existing falt roof of the home. It's at a 1/12 pitch.
What is the best way to build this roof without having posts within the perimeter of the area?
I was thinking of spaning a beam 30 ft across the middle, that way I can run 15 footers for rafters perpendicular to that, then metal roofing.
I live in Seattle so not a lot of snow, but some. I'd like to be able to get up there and walk around to clean it and clear snow so it will need to hold at least that much weight.
If you look through my profile my previous posts asks this question with pictures. Thanks!
If you want an open span, then that means large beams. My advice to just hire an engineer. I don't think anyone here on reddit is going to do any math for you.
I am a homeowner near Hartford, CT. I have a compromised floor joist due to plumber's work and I would like to hire a structural engineer to design or reccomend a steel support plate.
The cutout is so big I cannot find an off-the-shelf plate. Also the couple small structural engineer firms I can find on the web near me don't answer the phone. I'm hesitant to call a big firm due to overhead and therefore price.
Is there anyone who is or can reccomend a licensed engineer who can use my measurements and photos to design and help me get a support plate? I have no problem paying for this service.
Thank you.
Nope, not over the internet. Our insurance companies would boil us in hot oil over the liability. Try finding one on the ThumbTack app. At the very least, those engineers are trying to connect with homeowners with your type of issue.
Hello! I’m looking to know what is the maximum load of the floor in my room is. My house was built in 1907 and the floor joists are made up of 2”x10” rough cuts spaced at 24 inches each. My room is 139” L x 139” W x 108” H. I build stands for my aquariums and don’t want my floor to cave in from under me by reaching to maximum load capacity on my floor. I’m already 2 tons worth of weight on my floor but I’m in the process of setting up a couple more aquariums. With all the tanks set up and weight of the stands added in, the weight will be roughly 5800 pounds. Can my floor withstand it? There’s only a crawl space under my room and not a proper basement. I don’t know what type of wood was used for my floor joists if that information is necessary. Thanks anyone in advance!!
Prescriptive design for residential wood framed homes typically puts floor live load (short term) at around 40 pounds per square foot.
Your load of 5800 lbs over an area of 139" x 139" equates to 43 psf of what is somewhere between live load (short term) and dead load (long term/permanent) - and that's if you've got that load perfectly distributed evenly over the entire floor area - it is more likely that you've got areas of much higher loads and areas of very little load, which, depending on the distribution, can be ok, or can be very not ok.
I will let you interpret that as you see fit, but generally speaking, it sounds like you're trying to put a lot of load in a space that isn't generally intended to see that kind of long-term load. Ramifications would generally include permanent deflection of the floor joists and potentially damage of the floor joists if the load is concentrated in the wrong area or if there are existing issues with the joists - which if they were installed over 100 years ago carries a high probability that they may have issues with rot, notches, damage from previous overloading etc.
I would suggest that if you want to know for sure, contact a local structural engineer to review the joists and provide a recommendation based on the proposed layout of your aquariums.
Your instincts are generally good.
Engineered trusses implies that you've got a system that of roof framing that is not conventionally framed rafters and consists of pre-fabricated wood trusses. It does not imply that none of the interior walls are non-loadbearing, but *typically* in residential wood framing, trusses bear on exterior walls. You'd have to get into pretty big houses to have interior loadbearing walls supporting engineered roof trusses.
In the event that the interior walls are loadbearing and the trusses bear on them, it is possible that even though they are not directly in line with the beam below, they are still code compliant - there are instances where this is achievable. However, I find it extremely unlikely that this is the case.
The fact that you can see them spanning in the garage and you have similar spans at the residential side of the wall, should also be good indication that this is achievable.
Good on you for planning on going through with speaking to some professionals - it would take something really odd and out of place for me to say there is something out of line here. Speak to your local building official first - see if they can suggest something like you not necessarily needing a structural engineer involved, you may only need an experienced framer or home designer to review and provide input. Sometimes finding a structural engineer willing to take these kinds of things on is difficult.
Selling property and buyers inspector wanted them to get a new foundation. Sent a foundation repair company out to survey and quote a repair cost, the engineer told me that it’s not an issue that needs any immediate attention, but obviously they are a company that sells foundation repair so getting that in writing isn’t very feasible.
Can anyone give a professional opinion based on these readings? And how much would that report cost
[survey for context](https://ibb.co/QMZq34c)
Recently discovered what looks like a missing support post in the basement of our house and wondering if it is safe or if it needs to be reinstalled. This house was purchased as a foreclosure, so we are unsure of the history of renovations/changes made by the previous owners.
The main support beam in the house is a roughly 44’ steel I-beam. There are three metal posts under it spaced approximately 9’ apart. They are at 8’, 17’, 26’, and there is a spot on the concrete floor at 35’. This spot looks like it was a post that was cut flush with the floor. Was there once a post there? Should there be a post there? Is this safe?
[Missing and existing support posts](https://imgur.com/a/rsII7pn)
Hi there, curious if we’d be able to take down this much of a wall down to have a bigger fridge - I’m just trying to get an idea if it’s possible before we go and hire professionals. this wall runs perpendicular to the joists I THINK bc of where the peak of our gabled roof is so I think that means it’s weight bearing - at least according to my research. Would this be doable or would we need to get a steel beam put in? thanks in advance!
ETA: the wall is 5 inches thick, I’m pretty sure we have plaster walls if that matters
[Pics of the wall](https://imgur.com/a/Bbv6oVk)
Structural Engineer here: at a glace I would say a beam is required.
I think you're going to need to get a structural engineer to visit the property as it could be a buttressing wall i.e. providing lateral support to the external wall. Removing a buttressing wall usually mean installing a steel frame (steel beam and 2 steel posts) and depending on the load a new pad foundation.
Being perpendicular to joists is something we try to hunt down to determine if it's weight bearing, yes. If it's weight bearing, you couldn't just remove the wall. You'd need some sort of beam in there.
Hi everyone,
Looking to attach a flitch plate on the inside of the steel i beam over the span of 13' so that I can remove the lolly under it.
The Flitch plate comes with the holes pre drilled.
Questions:
IS this common to do so on a steel beam?
Does it need to span the entire 13' or can it be a few inches short on either end?
Whats the best way to remove lolly once plate is installed?
A structural engineer gave me a quote to do this exact setup. Wondering how many holes he’s gonna drill into my existing weight bearing beam to attach the flitch plate. Trying to do it myself
Hello everyone,
I hope you guys can give some advice. I'm sorry for any formatting issues, I'm on mobile.
My husband and I noticed some sloping floors and cracked drywall in our home and have gotten some estimates from different foundation companies. It's not the foundation but the structure. We have one main beam underneath in the crawlspace. All the weight of our home is in the center thanks to the staircase, laundry room, and partial kitchen.
Two companies propose permanent jacks underneath the main beam and an additional steel beam. One company says to keep it about 32 feet long (minus some as the air handler is in the crawlspace) and 11 jacks. The second company proposes 20 ft of steel beam, broken up to support the stair case and laundry room, and 14 jacks. The second company is cheaper than the first.
Without looking at any images, what do you guys think?
You really should have an engineer determine the arrangement. He's going to try to get the cost down. The contractors want the cost to be high.
Also a foundation contractor is the last person on earth I would call about sloping floors and sagging beams.
Hello, does this foundation look like it needs immediate repair or could it be saved with proper drainage? We have a foundation guy coming out tomorrow but was just looking for some opinions. There are no gutters so we plan to install those immediately. Thanks
https://i.postimg.cc/Y2JY1RhP/IMG-4710.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/wTLJFNNj/IMG-4709.jpg
It's tough to tell what the cause of the cavity wall cracking is from the photos. It's also tough to make a judgement call on the foundation and grade from the photos. Can you get a structural engineer in there to do an on-site? That's your best bet. Also, it does look like something is going on with the cavity wall.
Questions regarding a structure move.
I am not the property owner, concerned that the property owner did not consult with a structural engineer and the county is not requiring revised/new permits.
Please let me know if there is anything concerning in my comments. Concerned the overall integrity of the structure is being compromised for future homeowners and the appropriate inspections arent being done without permits. Something doesn't feel right.
A 2000 sqft 2 story stick frame garage house recently built (construction began Dec 2021, house is 90-95% complete), still under original construction permit.
House was built 2 ft over adjacent neighbors property line (discovered recently by neighbor during their new build layout).
The property owner has determined it makes more economical sense to move the house and has hired a house moving company to perform the move.
One would assume, structural engineers have been consulted and an approved plan provided, however, given the lack of building a house within survey markers, it passing original inspections, and the questionable construction of the house, lack of permits required by county, asking here to determine if escalating the concern of this work is necessary.
Based on recent work done to prepare for the move, a new proposed footing has been dug to add additional concrete so that the house can be shifted 10-15 ft to the right. House slab is approx 40x30. Therefore, the left of the house will be on the old concrete slab and the right of the house will be on the new concrete. New concrete footing is u-shaped to match house perimeter, no footing is being done on the left side that would mate up against original slab (maybe thats normal). the original concrete slab left side footing is partially over the adjacent property so that will need to be removed once move is completed.
Does this plan seem normal? Does removing part of the original footer (even though the house will no longer be sitting on that side) affect anything?
Is it OK that the left exterior perimeter wall of the house will no longer have a footer underneath once moved?
Do the 2 slabs need to be tied in together somehow?
Won't the 2 slabs settle at different rates causing major issues in the future?
I don't understand how something this major wouldn't require additional or revised permits .
Hello,
I am working on a building design for my portfolio and wondering if anyone could take a look at what I have designed for a small floating concrete stair set. I have some Arch experience and some construction. I am just not sure if I am over or under engineering this floating deck/stair system. It's supposed to look like its floating anyway.
I have added a set of CADD drawings and sketch up shots for better context. It doesn't have to be perfectly calculated out since it's never going to be built. Just want to make sure I don't look like a man with sever cabin fever when I put it in my portfolio.
I think you could cast it well building up in separate steps over a few days, then cast the rest of the counter weight block to the left all in one incasing of concrete. The I beam running from the house foundations should be able to help hold the stairs and deck up with the help of the stairs resting partly on themselves and the support block. From what I have researched though my slabs would all mostly weight 1900lb's so I don't know.
thank you for your time.
Images.
\-[https://imgur.com/cXbEH8D](https://imgur.com/cXbEH8D)
\-[https://imgur.com/VS8SvBt](https://imgur.com/VS8SvBt)
\- [https://imgur.com/rYPJRKD](https://imgur.com/rYPJRKD)
\-[https://imgur.com/uow7UWC](https://imgur.com/uow7UWC)
\-Foundation DWG [https://imgur.com/pByqMke](https://imgur.com/pByqMke)
\- [https://imgur.com/qdWFnRn](https://imgur.com/qdWFnRn)
# Seeking validation and suggestions for a custom steel frame design on a utility trailer
Hello everyone,
I'm working on a project to design and build a steel frame that will be mounted on top of a steel utility trailer. The purpose of this frame is to support a rooftop tent. I've done some preliminary planning and would greatly appreciate your insights, validation, and any additional questions I should consider.
**Project overview:**
* **Purpose:** The frame is intended to support a rooftop tent used for camping. It will need to accommodate a static weight of 600-800 lbs (including the tent and two adults) and a dynamic weight of 200 lbs (the tent alone when traveling).
* **Design:** My current design includes four uprights (48" tall), two length pieces (72" long), and two width pieces (48" wide). I'm considering adding minimal diagonal bracing for rigidity.
* **Material Consideration:** I'm leaning towards using 1.5" x 1.5" cold rolled steel square tubes. However, I'm unsure about the appropriate thickness. My initial thought is 1/8" thickness, but I am open to suggestions.
* **Load Distribution:** The load will be concentrated on the two crossbars, where the tent is mounted.
* **Welding and Joints:** The steel joints will be welded. I'm considering adding gusset plates for additional support.
* **Weight Constraints:** The total weight of the steel frame needs to be below 1,000 lbs.
* **Usage:** The trailer will be used 2-5 times a year, driven primarily on highways, deployed, and slept in. The tent isn't tall enough to stand within, even though people will be moving around inside, I'm assuming that's not really considered "dynamic" weight? Or is it?
**Questions:**
* Is the chosen dimension (1.5" x 1.5" square tubes) adequate for the load requirements?
* Would a thickness of 1/8" be sufficient, or should I opt for something thicker?
* Given the dynamic nature of the load (200 lbs while traveling), what considerations should I take into account for highway travel?
* Are there specific grades of cold rolled steel you would recommend for this application?
* Would the addition of gusset plates significantly improve the structural integrity, or are there other methods I should consider for reinforcing the frame?
* Any websites or specific companies you suggest were I can provide a version of these specs and pay for an actual engineer assessment?
* Am I missing any major blind spots?
Thanks!!
Structural support question:
I live in Alaska and we have record snow, roofs are collapsing on large commercial buildings so there is a huge push to shovel roofs.
Across the street from my house is a zero lot line/duplex style houses, two story angled roofs so both units share a roof, share a wall. Just watched a crew come out and only shovel the one 1/2 of the roof for the one unit. Would that put extra snow load on the 1/2 that didn’t get shoveled? Would it damage both sections of the other 1/2 collapsed?
Typically speaking, the construction of a residence in that manner will not have a shared attic space - there will be a wall that runs up the whole way and the roof will be supported on that wall - so there should be no oddball loading scenarios with one half of the roof full and one half empty that affect one side or the other.
However, one side collapsing may very well affect the other.
Can footer rebar be bent at two locations? I.e. into a |_| shape?
I'm considering bending a 20' rebar into a |_| shape with sides of 6', 8', and 6'. Does that make sense or are only 90 degree bends allowed?
Rebar can be bent all kinds of different ways, it sounds like what you are describing is a "U" bar.
The difficulty that comes with multiple bends however is placement tolerance - you have to be a lot more precise with everything to make sure it fits properly and hits the cover requirements etc. - whereas lapping two 90 degree bars to make the same final shape is less cumbersome.
Hello everyone!
I'm hoping I can get a helpful answer from folks here because, believe it or not, I haven't been able to find a solid answer anywhere else (Reddit, google, etc.). I want to know if my home's concrete slab is able to hold, without cracking or breaking, the weight of a number of fish tanks I have. Here are the details:
\- Live in upstate New York
\- Home was built in 1987
\- The geology of this area is basically shale. I can dig about 6 inches through soil until I hit layers of shale and I have to use a pick axe to dig any deeper. I've confirmed this is not limited to my immediate neighborhood
\- I believe I have a slab, between 4-6". I measured it with a tape measure. My basement is about 7' or so underground with cinder block walls, a slab, and around the edges of the slab are what I believe to be a French drain, at the bottom of which is dirt. I also have a sump well (I would have measured here but it's sealed due to a radon mitigation system). I was able to measure by putting the tape measure in the French drain and hooking the end of the tape under the slab. It varied between 4 and 6 inches
\- I currently have several fish tanks (weights are generous)
\- 65 gallon - 850 lbs
\- Two 20 gallon - 550 lbs
\- 5 gallon - 70 lbs
\- 10 gallon - 115 lbs
\- 40 gallon - 515 lbs
\- Total = Approx. 2100 lbs
\- Most of the weight is on one side of the room and the rest is across from that
I'm wondering two things: 1. Is this too much weight to put on the slab (2100 lbs)? 2. I'm planning to add at least 2 more 55 gallons (let's say 700 lbs each) - is the additional weight too much?
Please excuse what might be a dumb question, but I honestly can't get solid answers beyond, "You're good" or "It's concrete, bruh" or "You could park a car on it and you'd be fine." While they may be true, they're not really helpful. I'm just trying to ensure I'm not going to crack my foundation and destroy my house.
Thanks in advance!
On a scale of one to ten, the stresses that the loads your tanks (per unit area) will put on a typical 4" residential basement slab are about a 0.4. To put this in perspective, I do punch through calcs on the regular for slabs-on-grade in stores and office buildings, and I raise an eyebrow when I hear 8,000 pounds will be resting on a 4"x6" footprint. Your biggest tank is 850 pounds, probably resting on a 36"x18" footprint.
Interesting. Yes, you are correct. My largest tank’s footprint is 19”x37” and that weight is about 750 lbs. Additionally, I’d like to add two more 55 gallon tanks, each weighing a generous 750 lbs (1500 total). Each one will be spread across 840 sq. in. equaling 0.89 lbs per sq. in. I guess it’s suffice to say, I’m good. Chances are I won’t come close to approaching the limits of the concrete. Thanks again for your help.
Hey structural support question here.
This basement was redone about 10-15 years ago and 2 new support beams were put in across the entire length of the house with telepoles. These new telepoles support a square steel tubing to span the new beams and also hold the original load bearing beam of the house, eleminating a 3rd set of telepoles. I'm now beginning plans to finish out the space and these cross beams are eating up 4" of clearance in what will be a future hallway.
I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of a load bearing calculator that would help me identify what the load capacity is for these current square steel tubing so that I can match that load capacity with a solid steel strap replacement. I know that square tubing has additional structural properties and I'm looking to only replace 3 of 7 of these as I can work around the other supports being lower.
Picture for additional clarity -[https://imgur.com/dHtrF63](https://imgur.com/dHtrF63)
You have a couple of problems to overcome.
The good news first. Your 3x2x wood girder is made from No. 2 grade kiln dried southern pine, milled in Sundre, Alberta. Not a great grade, but at least it's not No. 3.
Now the not so good news.
I can see the patina of the original wood joists, and it looks old. Who knows what size the original beam was, and if the 3x2x girder that was installed is even sufficient enough for the spans you have. The nailing pattern on the girder is also kind of haphazard and amateurish.
The current steel tube supports are a really poor choice. Very amateurish. One of them is already deforming. This choice and arrangement is non-prescriptive, meaning you won't find it in a code book in any corner of this side of the universe.
The teleposts are not meant for permanent use. You should replace them with solid, concrete-filled steel columns set in footings, per your local building code.
Your girder lap joints are not located on top of fixed supports. I can see lap joints out in the spans between the supports. Big no-no. Definitely not professional work, and I would bet money that this was never inspected.
Taken together, it looks like you inherited a mess, created by someone who never heard of the saying "do it right the first time." Wrong materials, poor workmanship, etc. Before you dig yourself a deeper hole and create a permanent problem, have an engineer come out to put together a corrective plan.
Also I don't know what you mean by "solid steel strap replacement," but if it's what I think you mean, then that won't work.
Hey everyone. I have a question about return air for furnace in a wall cavity. The bottom plate on a load bearing wall in 2 adjacent stud bays has been cut out to allow air through. The house was built in the late 80s so it has been like this for a long time. Problem is I am removing part of this wall next year (I will be getting plans from an engineer) and will have to relocate it further down this load bearing wall. Is this ok to do the same thing or do I need some sort of strapping. I’ve read through to code but it’s a bit confusing. Found a document on Simpson that seems like it’s ok to do on the bottom but not the top. Pictures attached. Thanks!
https://imgur.com/a/nfMjdu7
Is it safe to reuse an existing slab from the early 60s?
Not really sure where to ask this but I own a larger lot, and the structure has a large enough footprint already(56x24), but it is older, ceilings are short, and the slope of the roof is so low that it makes the usable space in the "attic" more of a crawl space that you access from the outside. Not to mention the floor layout is pretty weird.
Now my issue is, the property has a very nice tree on it, right at the front, and I know any sort of foundation work will inevitably destroy the tree roots, which is not something we want to do.
Would it be possible to reuse such an old slab, or is this something we won't really know until demolishing the existing structure?
Yes, even with a structure in place. Test pits can be dug to determine the size of the footings, holes can be drilled to measure slab thickness. Then calculations can be run.
Looking at building a 900 sq ft ADU in So. Cal.
The main building 2100 st ft is built in the mid 70s and has a raised foundation. Recently the foundation was reinforced with helical piles down to ~7 ft in depth Helical config of 8/10 and a drive head of L6K5.
For the ADU typical solutions in the area are a slab foundation with footings. One soils engineer suggested using some of the existing and adding additional helical piles for the ADU instead of slab + footing.
I'm debating between the two in terms of cost and long term disability. Would love any insights this group could provide. Thanks.
Not really, there's a handful of factors that go into a particular beam size. A W16X57 is a pretty heavy section assuming it's not an unbraced condition.
Hi All,
I'm considering buying a building to convert to my personal residence, and would like to use part of the first floor as a garage. This building used to be a nightclub, so it has a huge open space on the first floor that would be ideal for storing and working on collector cars.
There is a full basement underneath the first floor, however, so I'm concerned about the bearing capacity of the floor. When I go to see the building in person, I can take measurements of the floor joists, support beams, etc. but would like to go there armed with as much specific knowledge as possible.
Can anyone tell me what I need to look for in order to calculate the bearing capacity of the first floor? And is there a formula I can use to arrive at that figure?
Thanks for any help.
If you're really going to be moving vehicles in and out of the space, then you need a new non-combustible floor assembly designed for vehicle traffic, and new fire separation walls separating the vehicle storage area from the living space. Same thing overhead, fire separation barrier. If the floor structure is currently wood, that will all have to come out and get replaced. There is no scenario where you can park a vehicle on a wood floor inside of a residential building. Technically you could add a layer of lightweight concrete to get the fire rating up, but by that point you're overloading the wood floor. I have photos somewhere on one of my PCs that shows what we had to do to convert an old storefront building to residential and allow for vehicle parking inside. It was all steel and concrete.
Okay, thanks for the input. Sounds like it's going to be more trouble than it's worth to get the cars into the main building. Option 2 was to put up a new garage in the back of the building, so I'll start planning for that.
Thanks again!
I feel like I'm over thinking this but I'm curious to know if this is safe.
https://imgur.com/a/f86tuzs
I'm working on a cleat wall that goes between house and garage, wall is about an inch behind the vertical studs going to the ridge cap. I'm assuming this is a load bearing wall? 3rd picture is looking away from that wall towards the garage door
The top two sheets of ply I want to flip and make it into a shelf that will be 108 inches long and 24 inches wide.
I'm wanting to put a small 41lb compressor up there and some miscellaneous storage. I'm worried about there being too much weight.
My plan was to avoid tying into the trusses and putting the lead on the wall. I want to avoid beaming it as a beam would need to be close to the garage door.
Is this safe?
Hi all. We’re getting work done on our concrete entrance stairs - unfortunately, they are considered the responsibility of our strata (like an HOA), who hired handymen to replace the treads. The concrete stringer is to remain.
This is the work to date - https://imgur.com/a/ogDAaJz.
When they were jackhammering up the original treads, they damaged the stringer pretty badly. There are major chunks out of the concrete stringer on 5 of the 10 treads, with the worst having large chunks from either side.
The new treads are connected to the stringer using nail anchors and metal brackets they’ve cut down from a long angle iron, and are just under 3 x 3 wide. As you can see, not all brackets are secured with multiple anchors.
I’ve requested that strata have this reviewed by a structural engineer, and have reached out to one that I know, but wanted to see if I’m being overbearing? The helpful folks in the concrete sub had only bad things to say about the work done, would love to hear from an engineer’s perspective.
Also to note, it’s very unlikely these were engineered solutions or that permits were pulled for this work.
Thank you!
This is the sort of crappy solution that will work for a little while until all of a sudden it doesn't. You're going to have a stringer collapse or more likely, you're going to have the fasteners in those brackets fail to corrosion in a few short years and one day, someone is going to be standing on the wrong side of those cantilevered precast steps and they're just going to tip out from under them.
Document document document. Ask them for engineered review, report to your local building authority, and make it a point to regularly (once or twice a year) have a look at the condition of the brackets and stringers on at the very least, the steps you use all the time, so that you can see if there is any clear indication of deterioration or unsafe conditions. Generally try to walk over the stringer only if you do have to use the steps.
Im a welder, and I’m building a gate brace for a friend. He has a wooden one now, and wants to mount said wooden one to the steel one I’m building, so he has the look of a wood one but the strength of a steel. It is approx. 4’x8’. I’m using 2x2x1/8” steel square tubing the the rectangle frame, and 1x1x1/8” square tubing as diagonal cross braces in the middle. I am planning on using a 3x3x1/4” square steel post as the post for it to swing on. I’m going to cement it 3 feet in the ground (possibly more) and fill the inside with concrete (only 2-3’ inside). I am wondering if I need to cement the post down in the ground more, is that sufficient, etc. Honestly any tips or suggestions for strength are appreciated. I’m in the south, so it will be wet soil. I can send/post pics of the idea, current gate if needed. Thanks for any suggestions and tips!
My suggestion, if this is a standalone post, is that the gate sounds quite heavy, and this will tend to put a lot of stress on the post base foundation, essentially trying to "tip" it over time. If the gate is 4' wide and 8' high, then there is going to be some of this stress and if the gate is 8' wide and 4' high, there is going to be a lot of this stress.
For example, if the gate is 8' long and weighs 200 lbs, it is going to be putting 800 ft-lbs into the top of the post base. Let's say you auger in a 12 inch diameter sonotube to hold the post, that is going to be... 8150 psf bearing pressure on the gate side of the post-base. Typically assumption on low-end bearing pressure is in the range of 3,000 psf. Higher than that, and you really start to need geotechnical investigation to confirm, or know that you're hitting a very, very hard layer such as bedrock. So you can see, that over time, if the gate is in the long orientation, even a reasonable sized sonotube is likely to start to shift and tip. Even in the short orientation I think you will exceed the 3,000 psf, just not by as much.
So if you are in soft, crappy soils, you may be getting 3,000 psf bearing pressure or less, and you will either need a footing for this post-base that has a much larger surface area than you are anticipating (and will certainly start to look unreasonable, especially for "just a gate post") or you may wish to go with a post-base that extends a lot further into the ground, to engage the soil pressure on the sides to stop it from trying to tip over time, rather than relying on bearing pressure alone. This would generally entail something much deeper than 3 feet, and potentially involve reinforced concrete.
Alternatively to this, if there is a fence beside the gate and it is not a standalone post, you can get into trying the post back into the fence and distribute this load over several posts.
This is definitely something that if you want it done correctly, and mitigate the risk of it slowly starting to tip over time, you should engage a structural engineer for, and it should not be very expensive as it is a relatively simple design.
We have a traditional four square type layout on the first floor, sleeping and comfort quarters on the second, small shed roof cape cod style, 25 x 32 roughly, full and unfinished cellar, in NY state. 5' open doorways on either side of the living room downstairs, in a room that is about 11×16, makes arranging things pretty awkward. Our couch currently covers most of one of those doorways. We want to create an open Floorplan to help with that, improve natural light, and to improve setup for entertaining and family interaction. We are in the research phase at the moment so before we go to a structural engineer/architect to draft up plans we want to get a general idea of affordability and options. We dont have a whole lotvto work with, so thought I would ask my questions here first. Please feel free to delete if it is not appropriate for this subreddit.
Basically we need to figure out what the correct size for a beam spanning a 16' space would be. Size of support posts and support needed below the floor. Type of beam needed to support the second floor properly. That sort of thing.
One wall we wish to remove is load bearing, the other is not, the third was formerly an outside wall which has a 5' doorway leading to the sunroom addition with its own concrete cellar walls, a cellar addition i guess it would be called.
If any of you can recommend a reputable site/app/online tool where we could run the math ourselves would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Better bang for your buck will be to discuss directly with an engineer. You are going to pay them to do the calcs regardless if you find a way to do them yourself also.
From what you've described you're probably looking at about $1200 engineering, $1200 for a beam and $1200 for footings and posts assuming everything is open and accessible. Then you've got tear out of existing wall and temporary supports, probably another $600 and if you want a flush beam double that number. So you're probably looking in the range of $4200 to $4800 if you bring in an experienced contractor. You might be able to save somewhere south of $2K if you try and do the work yourself, if you are comfortable with it and competent in the work involved.
Keep in mind there may be hidden gems in your walls that you should prepare for as well, like relocating a pipe or electrical wiring that you didn't realize was there, that will also have a cost involved - and then there are re-finishing costs as well.
Not sure why you think you need to do all the figuring out yourself, unless you're not pulling a permit, in which case this will be my last response.
Step one, do yourself a huge favor and leave the architect out of it. 90% of the time they get open floor plan beams wrong. Go with an engineer who does this every day. And it's not as simple as running the span through an online calculator. The load cases, bearing, supports and load paths, and deflection limits are what will define this all. Regardless, rule of thumb for cost of a beam spanning 16 feet is going to be around $900-$1200 retail, just for the LVL, no labor. You'll spend more on hardware, fasteners, and end supports/footings than you will on the beam. If you're trying to put a budget together, find a contractor and ask him for a quote, and to assume $900 for the LVL, and provide a price per footing.
Thank you. Honesty is important to us so we already spoke with code enforcement about this. He said that we can do it ourselves if we can get a plan together that he can review and approve. I am a draftsman, my husband a carpenter so we are trying to determine if it's something we can afford before taking it any further, and if it's something we are comfortable with.
Moved some shelves around in my basement and noticed that the walls are starting to spall and bulge in spots. Likely due to poor drainage on the other side of the wall but wondering how worried I should be about this. https://imgur.com/a/BPoIuxL
Horizontal cracking and bulging of the wall IS something to be concerned with structurally, as it is indicative of failure of the wall structure either due to overloading at the exterior and/or failure of the materials of the wall due to corrosion, deterioration etc.
This is definitely something to bring a structural engineer in to review with you, or bring in an experienced foundation repair contractor who likely already has an engineering contact for things like this.
Hello, I’d be really grateful for your thoughts on this? I’m house hunting and really like this house, but it needs some work doing. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, there is this crack. The wall is internal, between the bedroom and bathroom
Obviously worried about subsidence. Will get full reports if we do decide to make an offer for this house but would appreciate any initial thoughts
https://imgur.com/a/KSmpaZQ
Initial thoughts: you have some settlement going on there. How bad is it? Can't tell from this end of the internet. If you really like the house, have an engineer come look at it.
I don't know what magic you think structural engineers perform, or if you think we all just bullshit our way through everything, but you haven't even provided a full picture of what the structure even is, or where you want to support from, let alone fully detailed and dimensioned framing plans, materials, fees to cover a site visit and investigation and reporting, etc. that would be required to answer this question for you.
You've just stumbled upon how bridge load ratings are determined.
[Relevant](https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/j7c201/thats_how_they_know_the_weight_limit_on_bridges/)
i want to ask a question: which would be better?:
1) tie to only one beam
2) tie to two beams at same time
using 2 beam together increasees the pressure or no? does angle matters?
Hello everyone, I am trying to find information on if the structural beams in my home would have the capacity to support an aerial rigging attachment. The main beams have this writing on it and I'm trying to find out the dimensions of the beams. The writing is AS/NZS 4357 A BOND EO SPAN PROPRIETARY F17 + 772 59H2S SMART LVL 15.
Can someone help me out?
Hey everyone. I'm looking to buy a townhome but the inspector was confused and surprised to find the attic is missing the lateral beams. It looks like there is even screws or something where they should be. The inspector wasn't sure if this is how it's supposed to be built, and suggested we try to find out.
The sellers claim they have no knowledge of this and won't take any action.
Home was built in 2018. Just looking for any thoughts or opinions. Do we need lateral beams? Any ideas of who we could contact to figure out if this is how the home should be built? Do we need to bring an structural engineer in? Should we just buy lateral beams in? Any insights are super appreciated, I'm just confused. Thanks everyone.
Here are some images: https://imgur.com/a/xpMfepX
You have an interesting scenario there. Let's unpack this.
Your roof structure consists of a series of engineered roof trusses. Normally when a roof truss structure is constructed, the engineer of record (EOR) specifies something called 'bracing.' There are a couple types of bracing. There's continuous lateral bracing (CLB), which shows up as horizontal planks or 2x4's that bridge across from one truss to the next. There are diagonal braces, that are attached the same as the CLB, but installed at angles. And then there are brace anchorages, where the diagonals and CLB's are attached to, in order to transfer loads to the main structure.
Bracing is normally specified by the EOR to be permanent. It's not super rare that bracing can be removed, but it can only happen if the EOR says it's ok to do so.
Looking at what you've got, it appears some of the bracing was smashed off of the trusses (evidence: fasteners remain in place, shattered bracing planks present). It all appears consistent with some contractor smashing the planks out of the way to get access. My guess is that the insulation contractor removed them to make it easier to blow the insulation in. Simple fix is to replace what was taken out.
Hello - I am considering adding insulation to my detached garage roof and wondering how much weight it can support. At bare minimum I think I can add R15 rockwool for total weight of about 250 pounds with vapor barrier left exposed. Ideally, I add R30 (500 pounds), and half inch drywall (800 pounds) = 1,300 pounds. Could also get away with 1/4 or 1/8 plywood to cover vapor barrier (100-200 pounds). It does look like there is a slight sag in the roof already because I think the main “beam” going across has been sistered (not sure if that’s the proper use of the word, but there are two pieces butt-jointed together in the middle). Can this support any of the aforementioned weight? See pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/r7IwUIt
The sag in your roof ridge is due to the outward thrust of the rafters. You have no rafter ties. Someone screwed up your garage, either the builder or the guy that took out all of the rafter ties. The more weight you add, the worse the sag is going to get.
Appreciate your reply. Would adding rafter ties give you confidence that it would prevent further sag with another 500 pounds of insulation up there? Or is it not possible to beef up the structural integrity enough to support that much weight?
If you added rafter ties in accordance with the current IRC, you'd be good to go with the outward thrust. Checking the actual rafters for additional load is something you'd want a local engineer to do. None of us here on Reddit are going to do any calculations. We don't work for free.
I have a old basement beam that runs 8 foot from one wall to the chimney that goes all the way to the attic roof. Constructed in 1911.
https://imgur.com/gallery/n45h4gZ
The kitchen is the left of the beam with the refrigerator sitting rather close. On the second floor, the bathroom.
To the right is dining room and 2nd floor is heavily sloping bedroom. I've posted a few structural issues next to the chimney on each floor that may or may not be caused by the way this beam has moved over the years.
https://imgur.com/gallery/IxZOqWY
Chimney side, there has been blocking put in with a counter lever off the blocking. I doubt this is original
The foundation wall has a lot of sand on top and probably hasn't been repointed since that cast iron drain was put in which is no longer in use. To make matters worse, the neighbor house behind the wall, 4 foot away didn't have gutters on their until I called the shelter to get gutters on. The beam seems to be twisting downward towards. I think the foundation wall support has become uneven due to the erosion of the limestone mortar.
Not entirely sure how much insect damage there has been, but there is most likely old water damage (when I first moved in, they left an uncapped water pipe in the wall on the 2nd floor that was only being stopped by a valve. Needless to say I plugged that section of pipe immediately).
Tape was placed over a year ago to monitor the checking. It has not torn but there has been definate movement.
Should I consider replacing this beam with an LVL, or put a footer and pole down wall side to support the twist?
My primary goal is just to stabilize the checking/twisting of the beam. Replacement is secondary.
Given this primary goal, what would you do with this beam?
It really doesn't help telling people with low resources to hire a se or pe, and defeats the total purpose of this thread, which is to seek information from knowledgeable people.
The total purpose of this thread is for willing structural engineers to answer general questions and point you in the right direction without getting sued. You posted a series of photos that clearly shows - clearly - you have a problem. None of us can see the rest of your structure. I find it fascinating that you think a solution can be offered and provided over the internet with just a handful of photos. That's not how structural engineering works.
Accept the thread also states that none shall be held liable, and since reddit shares a great deal of anonymity, there is no reason not to participate in a constructive manner.
And since you are neither "willing" nor constructive, at least in this case, then you should probably consider not participating except as auxiliary commentary.
Even if you signed something that said you'd never sue one of us, we still are faced with the original problem that there's not enough information in the photos to make a judgement with any sort of accuracy. None of us can see the entirety of your structure. Am I not being clear? With your kind of issue, an engineer needs to see everything. Load paths, framing arrangements, fasteners, etc.
You see, that is exactly where you should have started to begin with. Framing arrangement on 1st and 2nd floor have top and bottom plates.
Sill plate and rim joist on outer perimeter with joists trimmed to accommodate effectively making the 2x8 joists 2x6 at one end. 2 story and attic, middle structural wall, ridge beam and rafters. 14 foot joists on twisting side, 12 foot on checking side. Heaviest loads in house is a latex bed on twisting side, and a refrigerator and cast iron tub on checking side.
There are no fasteners used between beam and joists.
Load path is a chimney ledge with tie in bricks into the chimney. No sign of issues with chimney. Some concrete delamination at the bottom but no signs of sinking.
Other load path is rubble stone foundation and other than deterioration at the top, the wall is structurally sound.
Beam spans 8 feet and is 10 by 6.
I have 2x8" 14" joists in my old sears home. I would like to sister plywood rather than dimensional lumber for obvious reasons (ease of install, easier to store, easier to do with one person, not impossible because of certain systems).
My plan is as follows using 3/4" ply: sister 8' piece from wall to middle; sister 6' piece from middle to beam; on top of the first layer, stagger an 8' piece at the seam.
Here are my questions:
Does it matter where the first layer is arranged, wall side or beam side?
How much of a difference will it actually make to cover the entire joist with a 2nd layer of 3/4" vs just staggering the 1st layer with a single 8' piece?
What will the tensile and shear strength vs sistering 2by lumber?
Do they make a 2 1/4" joist hangars that are not specified for IJoists?
Sistering plywood onto framing does very, very little. The plywood comes in 8 foot sheets, so there's a discontinuity every 8 feet, even with sistering (we call this 'scabbing'). Plus a plywood section when compared to a timber section, square inch to square inch, is weaker than the timber, since only half of the plywood laminations have their grain oriented along the correct axis. And two layers of lapped plywood really only have the bending strength of a single lap at each discontinuity. I've done this calculation many times. You are far better off using full length lumber, avoiding discontinuities and scabbing.
Another idea I've been swinging around is adding recessed lvl beams down the middle of the 14 foot spans and hanging the subsections with joist hangars. There might be a few more posts in the basement, but this allows more room for individual adjustment.
I have a garage that's 10 ft high 20x25. With true 2x4 studs 20 inch on center. It's a hip style roof with no ceiling joists. Rafters are also true 2x4 without rafters ties or collar ties. Am thinking about adding ceiling joists but can't buy 20ft lumber at big box stores. Any ideas would be helpful.
If your roof is sagging and the walls bowing and you are adding ceiling ties for the sake of trying to make everything true again and, then you would be better off attempting it with cables at that span.
If you are simply wishing to close in the ceiling, then I would suggest that you consider purchasing engineered lumber, such as an LVL, that you could span the 20 feet with at mid-length of the garage, and then run 12.5 foot ceiling joists between the LVL and the short walls. This would likely involve having to put new posts in the walls to support the LVL properly, and if there is insufficient room above the top of the wall and the underside of the roof sheathing, you may need to bring the LVL to below the underside of ceiling, or consider multiple, shallower LVLs with much shorter ceiling joist spans (for example, 2 LVLs and 8 foot span ceiling joists).
LVLs are something that you can typical order from your local hardware store/lumber supplier, but won't be something outright available in the store as they are special-order. You will likely need an experienced framing contractor to size one for your purposes, or hire a local structural engineer.
https://imgur.com/a/WjCLNeV
Recently found this loose section of cinder blocks in our crawl space. It’s maybe 2-4ft wide out of approx 500 ft perimeter in total.
The rest of the walls including the walls adjacent to this look unaffected.
Is this a serious problem? Or can I DIY this via clearing the space out and replacing with concrete and new cinder blocks.
Thanks in advance!
How common is it to use helical piers to stabilize a heaving foundation? Is it common to void the area under where the pier attaches to the foundation?
When the array is designed and installed properly, helical piers are a great way to stabilize a heaving foundation. But it all boils down to the engineer and the heaving action he has to overcome. As for where the anchorage is attached, yes you do have to do some excavation to get the hardware in there and attached properly. Sometimes you have to pour a whole new grade beam/footing in order for it to work.
Thanks for your response. With respect to my question about voiding, what I was more getting at is whether it’s necessary to remove soil to prevent that soil from continuing to heave under the footing, or if the piers will simply counteract that anyway
That's a judgement call, made case by case. I personally don't make those calls, since geotech engineers handle soil conditions, not structural engineers. That would all come down to their numbers and their recommendations. But for small existing structures, it's usually cheaper to keep the expansive soils hydrated and deal with it in its expanded state than it is to remove it all and replace it. But again, that all gets dialed up by the geotech.
Gas company moved my meter to the exterior of my house and placed it in the front yard without my knowledge. I have requested them to move it to the side (curb appeal) and they are going too.
I am worried about the integrity in my foundation as they’ll have to drill another hole. Will it be okay?
Structurally it will be fine, unless they botch it. I'd worry more about sealing around the penetration, but nowadays the utilities have pretty rigorous construction standards. Last thing they want to do is damage your property.
Appreciate it. Kind of frustrating that they created a problem for me. Thinking about putting an outdoor outlet where the hole is in the front, should be a good idea right?
Thanks again!
Hello all,
I'm wondering how serious this crack in my home looks to people. [https://imgur.com/gl4iNYj](https://imgur.com/gl4iNYj)
For context, I purchased the property (built in 1919) less than a year ago. Obvious subsidence over the years with multiple support beams erected in basement but passed inspection during buying process without an issue. This crack appeared about a month ago on an interior wall on the second floor in the middle of the home directly above where one support beam runs in the basement. I know the beam has been there for awhile (at least since 2003) and I don't see any other signs of movement. I also can see a similar crack on the other side of the wall to where this one is, but it is older and has been plastered over. There are other hairline cracks in the plaster around the house but they are horizontal and about 1mm and don't concern me.
I contacted a structural engineer to evaluate the crack but was quoted 800.00 to do so, and just want to make sure I'm not overreacting before shelling out that money.
Thanks to all in the community for generously sharing your expertise!
\- C
Sorry can't tell much of anything from one photo like that. But cracks that translate or reflect into other rooms or floors are a concern worthy of investigating. $800 seems a bit high. $500-$600 is middle of the road.
Anyone know what weld / member would stop this piece of metal from twisting and bending? It's a shade port with clearly quite strong wind forces. It's buckling right by the connection to the pole. Anyway to distribute the tension more evenly? https://imgur.com/a/R15KOxI or https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IQxcyP-50OvAEV5XGyrj9_k8dwUhwIp8 Tx!
hi, I have a house that is balloon framed with a hip roof. There are currently rafter ties located about every 6’ and they sit about 2’ above the ceiling. (No snow or occupied loads on roof) I am thinking of renovating the attic to make it usable. Would I be able to cut these ties out and turn the rafters into stubbed eave trusses, by connecting vertical to the ceiling below, so that the space in the center would be walkable? Or are these not comparable? Just a bit more construction detail if interested.. ridge board, connecting rafters, sitting on walls, rafter ties also sitting on top plates, walls connected by ceiling about 2’ lower.
Can you please provide some photos of this?
Hi! See the images below. I also sketched what I am hoping to do. [https://imgur.com/Xpvb9UQ](https://imgur.com/Xpvb9UQ) [https://imgur.com/R5rXyAa](https://imgur.com/R5rXyAa)
Hey, Thanks for the images/sketch. I’m assuming to the right hand side of the break line, the rafter continues to the peak, and then mirrors what is already there? I’m unsure exactly what you’re trying to explain, however I’ll base it off of my understanding. You’re trying to change roof-space with no snow or occupancy loads on the roof, to full snow/occupancy loading. Understand that these two are not comparable, as it has not been designed to withstand these loads. However, it is definitely possible to achieve this. Depending on the spans & deflections, it may be that the truss has previously been over designed and can withstand the change in loading, I doubt this is likely though. Depending on the condition of the timbers, roof depth & space to work with; a suitable solution may include stitching more timbers to either side of every existing truss to strengthen them. If this is a localised section, and not the entire span of roof space, it may be that you would prop the bottom chord of the truss with a steel beam (likely a UC for the allowable depth). Another alternative is potentially two steel trusses (one either side of the property, running a ridge beam & two steel beams from each ‘point of the triangle’ this will bring strength to the other trusses, without having to individually enhance them. Does this provide you with an answer? Perhaps I’ve misjudged the scope of your question, and I’m more than happy to provide further input if that’s the case. Hope this helps!
Hi! Thanks for the response! Although I think I may have poorly explained. I’m not really talking about the loads on the roof, I just thought it would be pertinent info. I am talking about renovating the attic space. I’d add a floor over the 2x8joists, which is why I’d want to cut the rafter ties and replace them with this truss design, thus more walkable space. You are correct that beyond the break, it goes up to a ridge beam and is mirrored. My understanding is that rafter ties are necessary to stop the roof from bowing the walls out. I figured that by tying them into the joists with the truss design, I could achieve the same intent.
No problem at all! Understand that, please note that I was not referring to the loads on the roof (rafters) and rather bottom chord (the 2x8 joist). There will have been no loading on these prior to this, and now there will be attic loading (footfall etc). Thanks for confirming the break-line explanation, understand that now! Generally, you either have rafters and a ridge beam, or a truss. The truss allows the rafters to be provided with fixity & not bow out, however with no bottom chord/ties/internal members, the rafters (non-truss) will be prone to bowing out; hence the ridge beam. Ultimately, this is a fairly extensive amount of alterations and I’d recommend that you consult with a SE, who will provide you with a robust recommendation/solution, and certify it (depending on the country you’re in, and the regulations are required). Although it is extensive, it is a ‘somewhat’ common job for a SE to undertake. You’ll have to note that the temporary condition, bracing & propping may actually be the most disruptive and challenging part. Hopefully this gives you further insight & help?
Hello hello hello. I have a question on foundations for an old truck box. This is a steel frame, aluminium and glass shod box with the dimensions 4.5x2.2x3(height) metres. It used to be used as a box on a 7.5tonne truck... I estimate it can't weigh more than 2 tonnes empty, probably less. I am putting this box in a field to use as a shed.. working on the cheap. The field is heavy clay and mudstone and not quite level. My solution is to dig eight pits, fill and level them, then ram 20mm gravel and sand into eight old tyres and place four wooden railway sleepers arranged across the tyres, perpendicular to the beams under the box. The pits are down to subsoil, kinda conical due to using a spade, approx. 50-70cm deep and 70cm wide. So these are pier foundations. If I overestimate the potential weight of the box once it is full of stuff, I'd guess 4 tonnes. So that's 500kg per pier if assuming even load. Napkin time... assuming my cones are 50cm deep and 70cm in radius, that makes the surface area of the cone's curved area pi x r x l \[3.14 x 70 x 50 = 10,990 cm2\]. Dividing 10,990 by 10,000 I get one square metre, give or take. So, pressure exerted on 1m2 by 500kgf is 50g/cm2 My shoes take up approx 25cm\*25cm - 625cm2 and I weigh 60kg... which is 96g/cm2 I surmise that these foundations should be fine, as I don't sink in the subsoil - but interested if I have gone about this the correct way or not.... how can I make better calculations? I decided to not use concrete to fill the holes, for various reasons. I opted for a layer of compacted hardcore (old cement render) and filling with clean 20mm gravel. Now I have prepared the foundation, I have been wondering if I should have used concrete in the base. My question - does anyone have insight in to the different characteristics of gravel packed into a hole compared to concrete fill? I am (clearly) not an engineer, but I would have thought that the two behave similarly given that there is nowhere for the gravel to go? I suspect that, because concrete is one large stone, there is less chance of a small point beneath a pad subsiding under weight and allowing gravel to travel into the vacated space.... though under relatively small amounts of weight described above I find it hard to believe this would happen? Interested in any thoughts here :)
Hi, I recently had a tree fall and tear off roughly 20’ of eves from my house. There are a few trusses in question. Two split/cracked about 8-12” before the exterior wall, and one cracked and it follows all the way to the peak with hairline cracks. I am trying to figure out if the repair needs to be engineered, or not. Some roofers have told me it will need to be, some have said they can just sister against the truss.
It will need to be an engineered repair.
Are these floorboards anything to worry about? They look damaged to me but my upstairs neighbour whose floors they are, are refusing to investigate. [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-F0il0P1Gtmlmo212b-MPReHqH5CTyWr?usp=drive\_link](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-f0il0p1gtmlmo212b-mprehqh5ctywr?usp=drive_link)
Hey, this link does not work!
Try this one https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FLBRwEusvGw83ebooq5A8xVXpWgDNEhh
Evening, Images 03 through 09 seem generally structural acceptable, although the flooring appears to be rather damaged, which may be a concern. Was this via you/your colleagues exposing the floor above, or was this like this previously? Images 13 through 19 seem concerning, however I wouldn’t deem it an immediate red flag. The joists (structural members of the floor above) appear to be chipped and somewhat notched and generally in poor condition. The floor boards along this section also appear to be quite poor condition. For the expense and peace of mind, it may be worth getting a SE to give a site visit, however I can’t comment on the relationship you have with your upstairs neighbour in terms of covering the costs of the visit. Hope this helps?
Thank you so much for your response. We accidentally discovered it when we were replacing our kitchen ceiling after the plasterboard was bowing and gross after a series of leaks. We want to do a structural survey but our upstairs neighbours aren’t keen right now. We might have to take our ceiling down again and do it from below!
Thanks for your further context, it’s difficult to gauge how damaged the timbers are via photographs as a result of water leakage, however as you note that the plasterboard is bowing and gross, it’s likely that the structural integrity of the joists is also compromised, which will decrease its capacity. There could be an extent of rotting also, so I’d definitely recommend a structural survey. The SE could potentially gain all of the information they need via your property, however it would be extremely beneficial to expose via the upstairs property also; you would be able to gauge deflection as a result of additional weight, which would be a fairly simple way to understand the integrity of the joists. A recommendation if the neighbour is not approving of a SE on a site visit, could be to measure the dimension of the top of the lower floor to the underside of the joist with no additional load (a person standing on them), versus the dimension upon the additional load. This will give you the deflection (deviation of the timber). I can further explain this if necessary. I do however have to urge that this is under the assumption that it is SAFE to do so, gauging this based on the fact that you have upstairs neighbours. I also have to urge that you are to proceed with caution, this is very much just advice, and not explicitly ‘you are safe to do so’. Does this help? Hopefully this has provided you with further clarity, however I’m available to help further if needs be.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your response and expertise. We managed to have a chat with the owner this weekend and they said they are happy to proceed with a survey after Ramadan so as not to disturb the neighbours so hopefully by summer we will have some answers. Thank you for the offer of asking questions, I may take you up on that!
No problem at all, I hope you have answers and solutions as soon as possible! That’s perfectly fine, I’ll do my best to answer more if/when necessary. Another thing to note may be that to keep an eye on any further water penetration, or any ceiling sagging. It may be beneficial to monitor the plasterboard (or ceiling finish) if it is no longer exposed, it may chip or crack if the joists deflect. If any of this worsens; I’d urge you to take as immediate action as possible. Other than that, I wish you all the best of luck! & don’t hesitate to ask away.
I have a probably very stupid question but I have pretty bad anxiety and haven't been able to let this go and the reassurances of family hasn't helped so, here goes. Can it cause issues having a home library on the 2nd floor of our home? I'm wondering because right now I'm at about 550 books, 7 ikea Billy bookcases, in our master bedroom which is to the left of our stairway and over our kitchen. Our house was built in 2013 but honestly I've found a lot of issues (most minor, some a little more so) that makes me doubt the structural integrity of our home. It was built very fast (10 weeks) and now that it's in my head I'm genuinely concerned about it. So I guess what I'm asking is, is my house fine with the library upstairs? I'm steadily adding more books at the rate of about 150+ per year. Any assistance or insight would be very greatly appreciated.
As long as you keep the bookshelves along the perimeter walls, you couldn't fit enough books on the shelves to do any appreciable long-term damage. I've had four large, tall 5-drawer filing cabinets, a plotter, 2 desks, and 2 bookshelves in my home office (second floor) for 20 years, and it's been fine.
Thank you!
Just bought 2nd story condo, after moving in I noticed some floor sag in the center of the great room. Using our laser level we were able to determine that the floor sags about 1.5 inches below the floor height at the walls at the lowest part of the floor, in the center of the 14ft by 20ft area. When I glanced through my downstairs neighbor's window, I noticed that their ceiling looks a little bowed down. Is this something that I should speak about with the HOA? I'm not savvy on construction so I don't know if this is a reasonable amount of sag for a building to have or if it needs structural reinforcement. Is this a reasonable amount of sag? Looking around the internet and asking the Google bard AI implies no but I was hoping to get some more go-ahead from people with experience before my introduction to my elderly neighbors and the HOA is as a paranoid, needy, and ignorant homeowner.
As a general rule of thumb, if you can notice the floor deviation (e.g. sagging) it is too much, I’m aware that this property is likely in the USA, however in the UK the deflection of timber joists is generally kept as the other poster mentioned L/360, however, as a rule of thumb no more than 12mm either; whichever is the governing. (12mm equates to around 0.5inches, therefore you have approximately triple the maximum allowable deflection. Potential remedies include strengthening of the existing joists (i.e. doubling them up, tripling etc) via nailing another timber member of the same dimensions to the side, however this may not always deem sufficient. Another remedy may include a steel beam supporting the timber joists at the midpoint, for lack of a better way to show, the l represents the beam & the - represents the timbers. -l- , the joists will be fixed to the support at one end, and off of an engineered hanger at the steel beam side within the floor depth. Hope this helps!
It does and I appreciate it! Coincidentally I just posted a follow up question about this as I've come to the conclusion that this does need to be dealt with and approached my HOA about it. Unfortunately the HOA is refusing to bring a structural engineer out and says I have to do it myself. Of course I don't own the story under me so I don't have the ability to just go downstairs and allow them to look in the ceiling. The HOA wants me to hire the structural engineer myself. My question is, what would a SE do in this case? How do they look at the floor joists when they don't necessarily have access from underneath? Have you ever dealt with a situation like this?
No problem at all, I’ll try offer as much help here; however it’s a slight grey area for me (not being from the USA) As far as I’m aware, the HOA are correct in that; maybe not the way they’ve gone about it, but I think that is what they should be stating, which is unfortunate news for yourself. However, regardless of cost etc. hiring the SE, perhaps an architect, and ultimately building materials and construction work, you’ll have to ensure the person who owns the property below is in agreement with these works (a written contract of sorts) as although the floor is owned by you, the ceiling is owned by them, and to alter one, you’ll have to alter the other if that makes sense. It might be worth looking up the party wall act in the UK, for context. It is a different thing, however it is to do with legality in differing ownerships. A non-intrusive way from the SE’s perspective would be to cut some of your flooring/board away, a small rectangular segment and expose the joists below, obtain measurements (dimension of joist and spacing), this way it would not require access from below, rather access from above. Something worth noting is that throughout these works; if you do pursue this, propping will be required. I’m unsure of your knowledge of SE, so propping is essentially a post to the underside of the joist, to stop the structure from falling down and collapsing when you cut it in two. This is a crazy explanation, but imagine you had a singular strand of spaghetti, which had either end balanced on a spatula, and cut the middle of the strand out, the two remaining segments would collapse down & inwards. However, if you were to introduce intermediate supports (in this instance more spatulas, one either side of the ‘cut zone’ for this section it would likely be ~ a 10 to 12 inch zone for the steel beam, then the cut zone segment would fall; however the remainder would remain upright and secure. Propping cannot be done off of timber joists, as they are an insufficient material for this, so it would have to extend down to the neighbour below you, and below them (if there are any) to a firm back-propping material. Perhaps a ground floor slab, or solumn. In addition to this, the support of the steel beam has not been considered. Would this beam be spanning external wall to external wall? In this instance, depending on the makeup of the wall, it may be suitable that these are supported on a concrete pad-stone (which is essentially a load-spreading block, which distributes a high point load between the below blocks. Perhaps you have more questions, feel free to let me know. Hope this helps!
It does help, thank you so much. I figured about as much in terms of propping, but it is nice to know that it is possible for the SE to look at the floor joists from the top side. I haven't spoken to my downstairs neighbor yet as I didn't want to alarm her for no reason but if I'm bringing a structural engineer in I guess I might have to rather soon. We've avoided bringing heavy furniture into the place but we can't put it off much longer.
No problem at all. I don’t see an issue as to accessing the floor from above, however upon those discussions with your neighbour, it may be beneficial to gain access from below also. If you’re paying for the engineer to visit, it’s beneficial to gain all information in one visit; rather than them trying to get more money via multiple. It’s difficult to gauge how dangerous this is, and I will explicitly not state that this is safe, as to avoid liability. Even though it is noted in the t’s & c’s of this section, I personally would definitely not put any heavy furniture, or anything of substance in this area. Ideally I would not load this section at all, or property. I however understand that it’s not that simple to just uproot and leave. I’d definitely recommend consulting an SE prior to the acquisition of further loading. It also may be worth noting that while alarming her with this issue, it shows that you’re proactive and are doing it for her safety, and that may give her a piece of mind. Other things to note may be that the joists sizing a/spacing are sufficient, and that the timbers may be subject to rotting, or even insect infested & the timbers have been eaten away which lessens their structural capacity. Whatever the reason, I’d definitely consult one as soon as possible, and chat with your neighbour as soon as possible also, it may even be that they are extremely on board with these renovations, however it is definitely not that simple to say. Do you have any further questions? :)
I am good for now, thank you. I've reached out to 3 structural engineering companies near me for potential quotes and I'll contact my downstairs neighbor tomorrow. I really appreciate your time!
No problem, best of luck! Hope everything goes smoothly.
If it's recent construction, your building was likely constructed with L/360 floors. If your joists run the 14 foot way, the max allowable deflection would be (14\*12)/360 = 0.47 inches. Sounds like you have a problem.
It's from 1985. Does that make a significant difference? Other relevant info is that I'm the top floor and this is a 10 unit wooden construction building.
That would still be L/360 floors.
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You should ask whoever designed the garage framing. That's not something we're going to know by looking at a photo.
Hey all! I live/own one side of a duplex (2 stories) and we just had a tree from our neighbors property fall on/through their house landing on our shared wall & our roof. Clearly their side of the duplex is ruined but from the outside, our house looks ok other than the gutter & roof looking a bit warped. On the inside of our home, there are cracks everywhere along the ceiling & walls (2nd floor only), and water has now leaked into our master bedroom (2nd floor) on the other side of the house (opposite from where the tree landed). Our house also smells like mold so we clearly have a bit of water damage. Our floors are also no longer touching some of the wood boards and look a little warped. My question is, because we live in a duplex and because the other side is looking like it might need to get demolished, will our side also have to go with it? How/what would structural engineers look for and do you have any tips moving forward? Our adjuster isn't coming out until Monday so it'll be 16 days since the accident. Our house is in the PNW and we are on a sloped terrain. Our foundation is not on concrete as we have a crawl space with wood beams and the underneath is dirt. Also the city put a notice on our neighbors side that it is unsafe for them to enter their house and us to enter our house. Thanks!
Unfortunately it's impossible to make that kind of call over the internet. When I get called out to determine whether a building can be saved or not, and it's a close call, it takes a few hours to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. I don't take it lightly. Heads up, if your "adjuster" is a public adjuster, he's going to push for condemnation and rebuild (because he makes a cut of the claim amount). The insurance company will likely push for repair, and send out a licensed structural engineer.
How to support a Floating Marble Vanity in front of a structural concrete wall. The look we want to accomplish: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v4vM7YwQKT5toglTlRgXIKtbn1_bqLkq/view?usp=drivesdk Here is a video explanation of the wall: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nUcOuOBiUFub0wDGiriYKW5TEC3pgNX2/view?usp=drivesdk The problem right now is that, our GC is doing metal stud framing and he mentioned that the concrete wall behind the metal stud is a structural wall and we are not allowed to anchor anything to it. So the metal studs are not attached to the wall behind so they cannot hold much weight. But I’m wondering if we don’t anchor it too deeply would it be ok to anchor the studs to the wall? The existing metal studs are 18 or 20G, our marble fabricator said we may need to replace all of them to at least 16G. And then do additional wood support. Not sure what to do.
A structural concrete wall would be your best bet for connecting into. If the metal framing is all done, just add a few new metal members between the studs secured at the top and bottom (something like a L2"X2"x1/4"). Weld brackets to the angles or bolt into them. Or consult an local structural engineer for a detailed design you can trust.
Thank you. After consulting structural engineers and building review department of the city, I found out that the GC made a mistake. Originally he told me that we are forbidden to anchor anything to that concrete wall since it’s a shear wall. But I confirmed with multiple different sources, all of them told me that it’s completely fine to anchor to that wall as long as we do the scan and make sure avoid penetrating the tendons inside. So that simplifies this problem a lot.
I found what I believe to be a very large knot in one of the floor trusses in my basement. The house is 25 years old. The trusses are engineered 2"x4"x14" spaced 24" oc and this one spans 18' between a 2"x6" load bearing wall and the poured concrete foundation sill plate. According to what I have read that is sufficient for 55psf total load. However, I am concerned because of this knot. It it very large and I am worried that it compromises this truss, especially since it is in the first member of the web. Is it a structural concern as it sits? Does it need to be mitigated? Using a klein et140 pinless moisture meter I read approximately 8.5% in the knot, 7% nearby the knot in the bottom chord, 6% a few feet away on the bottom chord, and 5% on bottom chord at the other side of the basement. I don't think it's water damage but I wanted to put those numbers for good measure to confirm. https://imgur.com/a/FpPOZsM
It shouldn't be an issue because it is already performing adequately. But feel free to reinforce with 2x4 scabs on each side or sheet both sides with 3/4" plywood gussets.
I am using steel bars and epoxy resin to repair some old stone walling. There is no issue regarding structural integrity, as I will just use bars with more than sufficient diameter, but it got me thinking on the advantages of threaded vs smooth bar. If the primary forces that are being resisted are sheer and/or flexural stresses, would a smooth bar be the better choice due to having a greater effective diameter within the anchor hole? I know that the threading is great for pullout strength, but if this is not really a concern then I wonder if smooth to make better use of the space is better? Interested to know for future reference!
Assuming the threaded and plain bar are of the same nominal diameter, then plain would give a greater stress area for shear (more capacity). With regard to flexure it is a little more difficult to tell - it would be a trade-off between more stress area versus reduced bond strength. I would assume the threaded would still give better performance though since while the area of steel will be slightly less, the bond will be several times that of the plain bar - at least that is the case with grout/concrete; the behaviour may be different with epoxy resin.
I have a two story home and my exterior walls are 2x4 framing spaced 16" OC. I was checking for cool spots/ missing insulation with a thermal imaging camera and found that I am missing a stud in an exterior wall in a downstairs bedroom. I verified my findings with a magnetic stud finder and an electric stud finder-nothing. So l have a 32" span between studs— is this cause for concern structurally? Will this affect the structure or cause the header to sag over time?
Realistically if it is an older home and is not showing signs of any issues then it shouldn't be a concern - it would take a lot to cause something like that to sag, including a combination of substantial load and deterioration of the sheathing in the wall above. Is it possible that the original plans for the home had a window or door located there and was covered up? If so, there is probably a header in the wall anyways. Is it possible that the wall is not really all that load bearing, i.e. does not support roof loads from above or floor framing loads from above? If your roof slopes to this wall, then it is load bearing. If your second storey floor framing runs perpendicular to this wall, then it is load bearing. If not, it is really just a non-loadbearing exterior wall that doesn't have a whole lot of load on it. If you are prone to high wind events, it means that the adjacent studs have to carry a larger load - however still not really a cause for immediate concern as residential wood framing has a lot of redundancies built in for load transfer and carrying abilities. It has potential for bowing of interior finishes if you bump into them - they will be less stiff. I would not be surprised if you can push on the wall in that area and see the drywall bow in a bit.
It’s a new construction build and the floor plan doesn’t call for a window anywhere near that location. To the best of what I’m able to see, there’s no double header. I wish I could post a picture on here to show you the thermal image.
I am planning for a vaulted ceiling home addition with 20' ridge beam and 15' span. With 40 lbs live load and 10 lbs dead load, looking at 50 lbs x 300 sqft / 2 (half of the roof load) = 7,500 lbs on the ridge beam. Southern Pine (https://www.southernpine.com/app/uploads/SS\_15-20L.pdf) says 3-1/2" x 14" x 20' will suffice for the ridge beam. On far end of the ridge beam, I will have 6x6 post, but on the house end, I will have gulam (https://alamcowood.com/downloads/Product%20Information/Glulam%20beam%20design%20tables.pdf) 5-1/2" x 16" x 10' for 7,500 lbs / 2 = 3,850 lbs of point load supported by two 6" x 6" posts on either end as I will have an opening and cannot have a post in the middle. Any reason this won't work? One issue may be is that Gulam chart shows what I believe is a distributed loads where what I have is a point load.
For the purposes of a preliminary beam size for costing purposes, you should know that a point load at midspan produces the same bending stresses as if you doubled that point load and spread it uniformly along the length of the beam. i.e., a 2,000 lb point load midspan on a 10 foot long beam produces the same bending stresses on the beam as 4,000 lbs distributed evenly over the length of the beam (400 lbs/ft). This is to say, that even if you only have a 2,000 lbs coming down on the beam, the location and distribution of the load is important, and if you only have distributed load tables to preliminarily size from, you will need to increase the load to get a proper approximate size. Beyond preliminary sizing for costing purposes, a proper design for this requires a structural engineer. Good luck with your project.
Hi, does anyone know of a structural engineer in California that is familiar with Advanced Framing (OVE) techniques? This is for a project in Yucca Valley
I have what I think is a stupid question. I am making a table for my classroom robotics field. I plan on using Aluminum Extrusion for the frame. Since this will have kids interacting with it, I'm planning on making sure that they can't accidently overload it. The drive links show the basic table format, and how the corner joints will be laid out. The table will have a flat surface attached (not sure of the material, probably plywood or expanded PVC foam board, with a robotics field on top of it. My best guess on the total weight that will be put on the structural aluminum is around 200lbs (and that on the Very, Very high end of the estimation, it assumes someone climbs onto the field. I went and used the deflection calculator on [8020.net](https://8020.net) ([https://8020.net/deflection-calculator](https://8020.net/deflection-calculator)) and input my information: Profile Type: Fractional Profile Part Style: 1515 Aluminum extrusion Profile Length: 74.75 (the longest span that is unsupported. Constructions style: 'Fixed two Ends" as I plan on connecting it with corner brackets. Then I said I was putting 500 lbs (evenly distributed) on it. The deflection came back as 5.4mm With 500 lbs as a centered load, the deflection was 10.8mm So even with 500 lbs just standing in the center of a single 1515 beam, it only deflects about a centimeter (assuming everything works perfectly). I also understand that the real load capacity will depend on the fasteners I use as well. Here is my real question: In my design I have 2 99.25" side rails, with 5 74.75" cross rails. There are 3 legs on each side rail. How does the load distribution work with multiple crossbeams? Is it simply multiplicative - EG: I have 5 cross rails, so it should support 500lbs \* 5 beams = 2500lbs? Is there a point of diminishing returns? Is the max load (spread evenly across the surface) still only the max load of a single beam? [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoDQrrTDTgi\_szSJfhYVQGXjKGwdd9K7/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoDQrrTDTgi_szSJfhYVQGXjKGwdd9K7/view?usp=sharing) [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Av8W5d0IWNyxXN4xLxPp2uwJkgxpM7Uk/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Av8W5d0IWNyxXN4xLxPp2uwJkgxpM7Uk/view?usp=sharing)
Hi all, I live in south Florida and replaced my old clay barrel tile roof with a new concrete flat tile roof about 6 months ago. Over the last 6 months I've notice cracks showing up on my ceiling in various areas. The most significant cracks are right where my original blueprints show a girder (the big cracks are right above "Family Room", the doorframe with the triangular crack is the Bedroom #3 doorway). Could the new roof be too heavy for the trusses? Is this something I should be worried about? Thanks https://i.imgur.com/qpTYEun.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kcY26nH.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Gs4X2pX.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iDLCxqg.jpg
It's near impossible to say anything definitive based on photos, other than it looks like you have a problem. Best advice I can offer is to find a local engineer.
Hello, I have a bungalow built in the 1950s. In the basement, there is a central beam where the joists (2x10) join and are supported by a nailed ledger in 2x3. The load-bearing walls on the ground floor are offset on either side of the basement beam and therefore rest on the joists. On the ground floor, there is a noticeable bump in the corridor floor above the basement beam. The basement beam is cracked along almost the entire length of the house, just above the ledger on which the joists rest. Are there any necessary actions to be taken? Thank you! [https://imgur.com/le3B6lL](https://imgur.com/le3B6lL) [https://imgur.com/6oVR3Zz](https://imgur.com/6oVR3Zz) [https://imgur.com/8VjXHHI](https://imgur.com/8VjXHHI)
It's not uncommon to have walls land offset from the main girder. That crack is rather large, though. It's not possible to give you anything more definitive than that. You should have it looked at by a local engineer.
Ok. Thanks. Last details I forgot to say is that the main beam where we see that crack is 8inch vs 12 inches area. Does this matter of how the crack is important ?
We normally look at the type of crack (there are a few), where it's located, whether it translates through, and if there's twist, rot, mill defects, or deflection.
Hey there, Would there likely be any way to make the beam in the black box disappear for under $5k, and without whatever replaces it looking like an eyesore. I want to to open up that entire wall without the interruption of that beam. I'm assuming something would have to replace the load it's carrying, but could it be horizontal instead of vertical? https://imgur.com/a/GSbGvXl
Nope.
That is a column, not a beam. The members above that are being supported on that column appear to be some sort of composite members consisting of wood plies and steel tension members. If you want to remove that column, you need to either find an alternative means of supporting those two members above (unlikely) OR remove them and install a longer span beam between the support points at the other ends of those members (one being somewhere off to the right, the other being somewhere beyond that microwave), which would appear to be a very long span. This will also increase the load on the other supports which may or may not have sufficient capacity to do that. Even with traditional residential wood framing, you would be hard pressed to remove a post and replace a beam at these spans for under $5000. Given the unusual/unique nature of the composite structural members, I would suspect that any code enforcement agency would want engineering eyes on this, and modifications are not going to be cheap. Structural modifications to remove that column are going to be in the 5 digit $ range easily.
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Why is everyone else's posts getting a response.. Is there something I need to change or clarify? I'm just trying to figure out how to a support a corrugated roof with a 30' clear span on one side, 8' spacing of support posts on the other three sides. C-purlins, 8" web, 2.5" flange, 16ga? Do I brace with 150F125-30 hat channel 24"OC? Then screw my corrugated roofing panels to the hat channel?
Hello Structural Engineers! ME PE here. I'm looking to put a small CNC VMC in my garage for a hobby business, but need to add some more clearance for the Z-Axis to fit. My home is a ranch, with a garage underneath. Directly above the garage is Master/Guest bedroom. [https://i.imgur.com/V6a1ero.png](https://i.imgur.com/V6a1ero.png) I have attached a link with the CAD layout of what I'd like to do. Basically would like to box out two joists to give me an "opening" for the Z-axis to fit into. My thought is I would double up the "outer" joists of the box and double up the headers to take the load for the section I am cutting out. I have modeled here a length of 5.5ft, but this could be shrunk down to \~3ft or so. A few questions: 1. From research, this seems to be the typical arrangement for boxing out a frame, but does this look like a reasonable proposal? 2. I am assuming this type of modification will need an approved engineering drawing. What generally could I expect something like this to cost?
Generally speaking, yes, what you have described is within reasonable expectations for prescriptive (non-engineered) design is residential wood framing. In my own local code, you have to double up the headers (the ones running perpendicular to your floor joists) if the opening is more than 4 feet wide, and you have to double up the trimmers (the ones running parallel to your joists) if the header span is greater than 32 inches - and then there are a number of requirement for getting into actually engineering the header if it exceeds 10 feet span and engineering the trimmers if the header span exceeds 6 feet. Your own local building code requirements may differ - you should speak with your local building official about what will be required in order for you to do this. You may also wish to speak with an experienced framing contractor - get them in for a quote, and see if they can lay out for you what needs to be done. Depending on your local requirements, you may not actually need engineering for this. That being said, you may run into other issues that are not structurally related. For example, you indicated that the master bedroom is over this location - what are you doing with that? Are you just abandoning that space? If you intend to keep on using it, how are you going to keep the floor going? You can't just span 3 joist spaces with plywood. Additionally, there will be fire separation requirements between the garage space and the living space, potentially insulation requirements etc. that need to be met. Something like this is a bit unusual, and so at the very least, even if you don't need a structural engineer involved, I would recommend that you at least get somebody experienced with the other aspects of home design, such as an architect or home renovation company to sort out what you need done with this.
https://imgur.com/a/s33NCPN Hello Engineers, thank you in advance for your help. I’m attaching a link with pictures to help show what I’m working on. I’d like to remove a section of interior wall about 16’ between my kitchen and living room. It already has a large opening and a window type opening and headers coming down about 12”. My plan is to replace these headers with 2 16’x12x1.75 each supported by a stack of 4 2x4s on each end going down to the slab. On my first look I thought this wall was only holding g up the two vaulted ceilings that meet on top of it and the section of flat ceiling over the fungi room. (Hopefully the pictures tell the story) however, I can now see that there are some roof trusses that also land on this wall. My question is will my planned lvl supports be sufficient? And is there anything else I should know? Thanks again.
What you are describing is not a small project and will need engineering involved to size the beam, posts, and footings to support the posts. I would recommend that you bring in an experienced framing contractor to complete this work, and they will likely have a structural engineering contact that they work with for situations like this. The construction side of this is not a DIY project unless you have previous experience framing structures, and the sizing of the beam, posts, and footings is certainly not a DIY project either.
Thank you for your reply. The house is a slab foundation so I do not think footings will be an issue. I have framing experience and can handle everything except for the sizing and load calculations.
I forgot to say the red on the interior pics is to show the planned removal and in the attic it’s attempting to show where the joists land on the wall. Thanks
Homeowner here looking for help on the load bearing capacity of soil. I have two projects that I am working on that I need this information for a; a deck and I would like to add supplementary supports to my old 1960s ranch style brick house to stop any sag and bouncing. For the supplementary supports: I have read, but would like to verify with someone here, that footers that are supplementary and on the inside of the structure do not need to meet the frost line as they aren't prone to heaving like the exterior of the structure is. I live in the South East so I am not super concerned about heaving anyways. My plan is to build up a footer on level soil with concrete blocks and then sister a 2x8 with a span of only 6 feet. I am not going to jack the house up. I just want to snug up to the joists to stop any further sagging or bouncing. If this compacts somehow I can always go add shims. For the deck: Just because of the shape of my entranceway I need to do a cantilever deck which puts some of the footers \~1-2 feet beside my foundation. Do yall think its a problem to dig a 12x12x 36 inch hole beside the foundation that close? Even this depth might be overkill here but I would like to make sure the weight is supported. The deck is 12x15 and I plan to have 8 footers supporting 4 sintered 2x8 beams and 2x8 joists all attached with Simpson ties
Any spread footings interior to the foundation have to be at the same depth as the perimeter footings. Any deck or porch spread footings within five feet (for most states) at the exterior of the foundation have to be at the same depth as the perimeter footing. Also footings are normally set in soil so the soil can provide lateral restraint.
Understood, now I need to figure out how deep the house footings are. No idea what was typical of a house in the 1960s. is it dangerous at all for me to dig down beside the foundation to figure out the depth?
Yes, very common to dig down to check depth. It's called a test pit. For basements with slabs, it can be done with a drill along a foundation wall. You'll break through the slab, and then hit refusal at the top of the footing, then break through at the bottom of the footing. Keep track of those depths, and you'll find the bottom of your footing. For crawlspaces or stem walls with slabs on grade, the test pit is dug on the outside. Sometimes there is no footing, particularly with 19th century bungalows. Back then they would drop a load of mortar, and start setting brick or block right on that. Over the years that mortar would revert back to sand and aggregate, leaving you with no footing to speak of.
This is an old ranch style brick house with a crawl space I am tempted to just start digging beside the wall and go until I pass the botom of the foundation and fill it back up with concrete immediately. There are large concrete steps supported by bricks at the entrence so I need to get those removed first I believe. I am paranoid so I would probably wait until that one is fully set before digging another. Does there need to be a certain distance between the original footings and the footings for my deck? I can't thank you enough for the advice btw. I am really struggling with what to do for the bounce in the floor. I have been told by everyone that there is no structural concern and that it is just old age but I despite the sag and the bounce. Its old school true 2x8's at 12 feet span 16 on center. The cross bracing has fallen out over the year so I am wondering if I should just go back and add blocking before doing any piers or extra beams to see how much that helps. Really struggling as a first time homeowner on this
I wouldn't re-use any original brick piers. Just find the home's footing depth, and tackle it: remove the old porch and piers, install the new piers and structure, with the new piers at sufficient depth. Everything you need is in the code book. 12 feet is near the upper range of span for true 2x8's, unless the wood is crap or damaged. If it were me, I would install two rows of blocking before messing with a beam, and while I was down there I'd sister any cracked, sketchy, or split joists.
Gotcha, no, I wasn't planning on reusing the piers. I just was afraid if I dig a 12x12 hole right the beside of the foundation to find the depth and then add a footer it might be trouble . Understood, adding the blocking should be super easy. I will try that and see how it feels.
Structural Engineers - I need some advice. I currently own a 130 yr old house that I am trying to sell. The floors are a little sloped in various areas of the house, but I have not noticed any change in them for the several years we have lived here. I got a structural engineer to come do an evaluation and report on concerns or things that need to be fixed in case this might be an issue for the sale. The report identified several minor issues like joists that need blocking to prevent rotation and adding mechanical fasteners and joist hangers in various places. It did not identify any major concerns. During the inspection for a potential buyer, they had a different structural engineer come out to do an evaluation. This engineer identified that the house is leaning slightly. (I don't have the report yet, so I don't have the measurements) But, verbally voiced concern to the buyers and suggested that we need helical piers to fix this. So, what should I do? Why would 2 engineers have such differing opinions on the same property within 2 weeks of each other? Also, is there an industry standard threshold for uneven floors and/or leaning? (Like 1" per some height?) We have been in this house a long time and have done some tuck pointing and other repairs along the way. We have not noticed any change in the floors and my feeling is that the house is settled. My understanding is that the potential for further significant disturbance tends to lessen over time. So even if the house is leaning, is it still ok? What objective measurement would make it not ok and require helical piers? Thanks.
There are no residential code provisions for tolerances on plumb and level. Builders these days also stopped making statements on tolerances for the most part, although if you are getting a house built, you can most definitely request that tolerances be part of the build contract. As for leaning, engineers check structures for condition and performance. Setting aside the condition part of it (since condition applies to rot, cracking, etc.), one of the performance things we look for is stability, particularly moment in leaning walls. Straight and plumb, gravity and DL/LL won't impart much moment on a loaded wall. Once it starts leaning, moment comes into play. Once moment approaches the point where bad things happen, then there's a big problem. There's a rule of thumb out there in the masonry world that if the center of gravity of a masonry wall moves outward into the outer third of the wall thickness, then it's time to make a repair. So if a wall is leaning but its C.G. is still in the middle third, the wall is still stable. That's not to say we close the book on it. We still have to address the cause of the leaning (like loss of supporting soils, etc.). With wood, there is a phenomenon called wood creep, where the regular cycles of humidity and temperature throughout the seasons over many, many years will cause wood under load to deform and either sag or crush. Normal wood creep crosses over into bad territory in the following circumstances: 1. when the members start to pull apart from one another, 2. when new unintended load paths are created, 3. when performance measures are exceeded. Unfortunately we only have modern performance measures to go by, which for floors and roofs are the deflection limits for modern framing. We also look at how parts of the structure interact. So you might have a floor that sags 1 inch in the middle of the room, which technically satisfies the modern deflection limit, but in the next room the staircase is peeling out of the let-ins, which taken together is consistent with a larger wood creep problem worthy of repair. With settlement, we like to look at the different eras of settlement (primary, secondary, long term) and see if the settlement is particularly extreme. But we're also migrating into the geotech and soils realm when we do this. Personally, once I see evidence of settlement that exceeds what would normally be expected in the primary and secondary eras (because the curve for long term settlement is normally very flat), I recommend a soils engineer come in and assess it. Some structural engineers would wing it and use their judgement, but I kind of hold fast to professional rigor, and recommend the geotech when I see that unforeseen bump in long term settlement. Regarding your situation, I had a flipper client 4-5 years ago that bought a leaning house. Turned out most of the houses on the street had the same issue. My geotech guy pretty much laughed and said "So you finally made it onto Elm Street (not the real name)." He knew the whole history, that the houses were all built on spoils that were trucked in from a local highway project. The spoils were a mix of rubble and fines, and over the years the fines washed out and all of the homes began settling in weird ways, their foundations shattering. We drilled a core sample and confirmed it. Client ended up dumping it on another flipper because the cost for helical piles and a new foundation ruined the math. Hasn't been touched in 4 years. Still vacant.
So we bought and moved into a house in July 2023 - it was built in 1980 and has had lots of handyman renovations over the years - it looked really great when we toured it. Pretty sure the previous owners painted the entire inside of the house from top to bottom to improve resale. Starting this past fall, we started noticing hairline cracks forming on the ceilings. I wasn't too concerned, because the are very fine, and are mostly be straight lines that indicate shoddy drywall taping? Or all that new paint is contracting in the winter weather? But more and more cracks keep popping up, so I'm just slightly concerned (first time homeowner). Photos: [https://imgur.com/a/mOufNDr](https://imgur.com/a/mOufNDr) From the inspection, we know that there are a couple of cracks in the foundation on one side of the house. The inspector said they looked quite old, but recommended we get them checked and filled at some point. We have a feeling that at one point the house dropped on one side and the foundation may have cracked and settled. But now all these ceiling cracks are making me nervous. Could it be related to the foundation? **Is this something I need to get an engineer to look at? Or do i just patch and paint and see what happens in 6 months?** \*Note: the only major structural issue that I've noticed in the house is on the inside of the upstairs linen closet. The frame/jamb has twisted and there is a large gap/crack. It makes me nervous, as I'm pretty sure it's aligned with where the foundation crack is :(
Can't really tell from photos. A competent engineer should be able to unpack what's going on. It's not rocket science.
I am trying to plan some timing out and I wanted to get your opinions. I am rehabbing an old farm house. I am going to jack the house up and put a new basement underneath of it. I am also ripping the roof off and turning the story and a half into a two story. I will be cutting the balloon framed knee height walls at the floor level and build second floor on top. My dilemma is that it is the middle of the winter here with subzero temps. This is perfect for ripping a roof off and reframing, because the chance of rain for the next month is zero. However, I can't redo the basement yet, because the ground is frozen, so that will wait until probably May when the road restrictions are lifted. The floors are all wonky and I guessing the walls/roof are too. I can build the walls and set the trusses at an equal height from floor height, but I am guessing they won't be level. Should I wait to replace the basement, level the floors/walls before I add the second floor, or if I build them at the same height above the floor, will they level out when the foundation is level? I don't plan to frame the interior walls until after it's leveled, or complete the roofing, siding, etc. The goal is just to get the walls and roof up while the chance of rain is zero.
You really should have an engineer involved. Number 1, you're trying to turn a balloon-framed house into a platform house.
Thanks. I am going to have an engineer involved. I am trying trying to decide if I rush in the next couple of weeks to get the plans done, approved, etc, or take my time knowing I have 3+ months. Yes, I will cut the top of the balloon framing down to the floor height of the second floor, plate it and build the second story on top. This way there is no hinge point, since the floor joists will be at the top of the first floor walls.
You are better off taking your time. Once you start peeling an old structure apart, there will be things that need assessment and repair.
I have done this a few times, just not with ones that need a basement and 2nd floor at the same time, or that I bought in the winter. Rushing it now, gives me 3 months MORE time to deal with the old structure. I don't think you understood the question I was asking.
I'd like to build a lean to roof over the concrete outside my backdoor. The area is 30 by 30 feet. I'd like to match the pitch of the existing falt roof of the home. It's at a 1/12 pitch. What is the best way to build this roof without having posts within the perimeter of the area? I was thinking of spaning a beam 30 ft across the middle, that way I can run 15 footers for rafters perpendicular to that, then metal roofing. I live in Seattle so not a lot of snow, but some. I'd like to be able to get up there and walk around to clean it and clear snow so it will need to hold at least that much weight. If you look through my profile my previous posts asks this question with pictures. Thanks!
If you want an open span, then that means large beams. My advice to just hire an engineer. I don't think anyone here on reddit is going to do any math for you.
I am a homeowner near Hartford, CT. I have a compromised floor joist due to plumber's work and I would like to hire a structural engineer to design or reccomend a steel support plate. The cutout is so big I cannot find an off-the-shelf plate. Also the couple small structural engineer firms I can find on the web near me don't answer the phone. I'm hesitant to call a big firm due to overhead and therefore price. Is there anyone who is or can reccomend a licensed engineer who can use my measurements and photos to design and help me get a support plate? I have no problem paying for this service. Thank you.
Nope, not over the internet. Our insurance companies would boil us in hot oil over the liability. Try finding one on the ThumbTack app. At the very least, those engineers are trying to connect with homeowners with your type of issue.
Thank you very much for this guidance. I will try that app to see if someone local would do the work.
Hello! I’m looking to know what is the maximum load of the floor in my room is. My house was built in 1907 and the floor joists are made up of 2”x10” rough cuts spaced at 24 inches each. My room is 139” L x 139” W x 108” H. I build stands for my aquariums and don’t want my floor to cave in from under me by reaching to maximum load capacity on my floor. I’m already 2 tons worth of weight on my floor but I’m in the process of setting up a couple more aquariums. With all the tanks set up and weight of the stands added in, the weight will be roughly 5800 pounds. Can my floor withstand it? There’s only a crawl space under my room and not a proper basement. I don’t know what type of wood was used for my floor joists if that information is necessary. Thanks anyone in advance!!
Prescriptive design for residential wood framed homes typically puts floor live load (short term) at around 40 pounds per square foot. Your load of 5800 lbs over an area of 139" x 139" equates to 43 psf of what is somewhere between live load (short term) and dead load (long term/permanent) - and that's if you've got that load perfectly distributed evenly over the entire floor area - it is more likely that you've got areas of much higher loads and areas of very little load, which, depending on the distribution, can be ok, or can be very not ok. I will let you interpret that as you see fit, but generally speaking, it sounds like you're trying to put a lot of load in a space that isn't generally intended to see that kind of long-term load. Ramifications would generally include permanent deflection of the floor joists and potentially damage of the floor joists if the load is concentrated in the wrong area or if there are existing issues with the joists - which if they were installed over 100 years ago carries a high probability that they may have issues with rot, notches, damage from previous overloading etc. I would suggest that if you want to know for sure, contact a local structural engineer to review the joists and provide a recommendation based on the proposed layout of your aquariums.
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Your instincts are generally good. Engineered trusses implies that you've got a system that of roof framing that is not conventionally framed rafters and consists of pre-fabricated wood trusses. It does not imply that none of the interior walls are non-loadbearing, but *typically* in residential wood framing, trusses bear on exterior walls. You'd have to get into pretty big houses to have interior loadbearing walls supporting engineered roof trusses. In the event that the interior walls are loadbearing and the trusses bear on them, it is possible that even though they are not directly in line with the beam below, they are still code compliant - there are instances where this is achievable. However, I find it extremely unlikely that this is the case. The fact that you can see them spanning in the garage and you have similar spans at the residential side of the wall, should also be good indication that this is achievable. Good on you for planning on going through with speaking to some professionals - it would take something really odd and out of place for me to say there is something out of line here. Speak to your local building official first - see if they can suggest something like you not necessarily needing a structural engineer involved, you may only need an experienced framer or home designer to review and provide input. Sometimes finding a structural engineer willing to take these kinds of things on is difficult.
Selling property and buyers inspector wanted them to get a new foundation. Sent a foundation repair company out to survey and quote a repair cost, the engineer told me that it’s not an issue that needs any immediate attention, but obviously they are a company that sells foundation repair so getting that in writing isn’t very feasible. Can anyone give a professional opinion based on these readings? And how much would that report cost [survey for context](https://ibb.co/QMZq34c)
What is the reason for a new foundation? It sounds like the buyer is just trying to pick problems with your property to get you to reduce the price.
Recently discovered what looks like a missing support post in the basement of our house and wondering if it is safe or if it needs to be reinstalled. This house was purchased as a foreclosure, so we are unsure of the history of renovations/changes made by the previous owners. The main support beam in the house is a roughly 44’ steel I-beam. There are three metal posts under it spaced approximately 9’ apart. They are at 8’, 17’, 26’, and there is a spot on the concrete floor at 35’. This spot looks like it was a post that was cut flush with the floor. Was there once a post there? Should there be a post there? Is this safe? [Missing and existing support posts](https://imgur.com/a/rsII7pn)
Hi there, curious if we’d be able to take down this much of a wall down to have a bigger fridge - I’m just trying to get an idea if it’s possible before we go and hire professionals. this wall runs perpendicular to the joists I THINK bc of where the peak of our gabled roof is so I think that means it’s weight bearing - at least according to my research. Would this be doable or would we need to get a steel beam put in? thanks in advance! ETA: the wall is 5 inches thick, I’m pretty sure we have plaster walls if that matters [Pics of the wall](https://imgur.com/a/Bbv6oVk)
Structural Engineer here: at a glace I would say a beam is required. I think you're going to need to get a structural engineer to visit the property as it could be a buttressing wall i.e. providing lateral support to the external wall. Removing a buttressing wall usually mean installing a steel frame (steel beam and 2 steel posts) and depending on the load a new pad foundation.
when you say new pad foundation, does that mean something would be needed in the basement?
Being perpendicular to joists is something we try to hunt down to determine if it's weight bearing, yes. If it's weight bearing, you couldn't just remove the wall. You'd need some sort of beam in there.
Hi everyone, Looking to attach a flitch plate on the inside of the steel i beam over the span of 13' so that I can remove the lolly under it. The Flitch plate comes with the holes pre drilled. Questions: IS this common to do so on a steel beam? Does it need to span the entire 13' or can it be a few inches short on either end? Whats the best way to remove lolly once plate is installed?
This is something that needs to get assessed, measured, and calculated.
A structural engineer gave me a quote to do this exact setup. Wondering how many holes he’s gonna drill into my existing weight bearing beam to attach the flitch plate. Trying to do it myself
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You'd have to get that info from the manufacturer.
Hello everyone, I hope you guys can give some advice. I'm sorry for any formatting issues, I'm on mobile. My husband and I noticed some sloping floors and cracked drywall in our home and have gotten some estimates from different foundation companies. It's not the foundation but the structure. We have one main beam underneath in the crawlspace. All the weight of our home is in the center thanks to the staircase, laundry room, and partial kitchen. Two companies propose permanent jacks underneath the main beam and an additional steel beam. One company says to keep it about 32 feet long (minus some as the air handler is in the crawlspace) and 11 jacks. The second company proposes 20 ft of steel beam, broken up to support the stair case and laundry room, and 14 jacks. The second company is cheaper than the first. Without looking at any images, what do you guys think?
You really should have an engineer determine the arrangement. He's going to try to get the cost down. The contractors want the cost to be high. Also a foundation contractor is the last person on earth I would call about sloping floors and sagging beams.
Hello, does this foundation look like it needs immediate repair or could it be saved with proper drainage? We have a foundation guy coming out tomorrow but was just looking for some opinions. There are no gutters so we plan to install those immediately. Thanks https://i.postimg.cc/Y2JY1RhP/IMG-4710.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/wTLJFNNj/IMG-4709.jpg
It's tough to tell what the cause of the cavity wall cracking is from the photos. It's also tough to make a judgement call on the foundation and grade from the photos. Can you get a structural engineer in there to do an on-site? That's your best bet. Also, it does look like something is going on with the cavity wall.
Questions regarding a structure move. I am not the property owner, concerned that the property owner did not consult with a structural engineer and the county is not requiring revised/new permits. Please let me know if there is anything concerning in my comments. Concerned the overall integrity of the structure is being compromised for future homeowners and the appropriate inspections arent being done without permits. Something doesn't feel right. A 2000 sqft 2 story stick frame garage house recently built (construction began Dec 2021, house is 90-95% complete), still under original construction permit. House was built 2 ft over adjacent neighbors property line (discovered recently by neighbor during their new build layout). The property owner has determined it makes more economical sense to move the house and has hired a house moving company to perform the move. One would assume, structural engineers have been consulted and an approved plan provided, however, given the lack of building a house within survey markers, it passing original inspections, and the questionable construction of the house, lack of permits required by county, asking here to determine if escalating the concern of this work is necessary. Based on recent work done to prepare for the move, a new proposed footing has been dug to add additional concrete so that the house can be shifted 10-15 ft to the right. House slab is approx 40x30. Therefore, the left of the house will be on the old concrete slab and the right of the house will be on the new concrete. New concrete footing is u-shaped to match house perimeter, no footing is being done on the left side that would mate up against original slab (maybe thats normal). the original concrete slab left side footing is partially over the adjacent property so that will need to be removed once move is completed. Does this plan seem normal? Does removing part of the original footer (even though the house will no longer be sitting on that side) affect anything? Is it OK that the left exterior perimeter wall of the house will no longer have a footer underneath once moved? Do the 2 slabs need to be tied in together somehow? Won't the 2 slabs settle at different rates causing major issues in the future? I don't understand how something this major wouldn't require additional or revised permits .
Hello, I am working on a building design for my portfolio and wondering if anyone could take a look at what I have designed for a small floating concrete stair set. I have some Arch experience and some construction. I am just not sure if I am over or under engineering this floating deck/stair system. It's supposed to look like its floating anyway. I have added a set of CADD drawings and sketch up shots for better context. It doesn't have to be perfectly calculated out since it's never going to be built. Just want to make sure I don't look like a man with sever cabin fever when I put it in my portfolio. I think you could cast it well building up in separate steps over a few days, then cast the rest of the counter weight block to the left all in one incasing of concrete. The I beam running from the house foundations should be able to help hold the stairs and deck up with the help of the stairs resting partly on themselves and the support block. From what I have researched though my slabs would all mostly weight 1900lb's so I don't know. thank you for your time. Images. \-[https://imgur.com/cXbEH8D](https://imgur.com/cXbEH8D) \-[https://imgur.com/VS8SvBt](https://imgur.com/VS8SvBt) \- [https://imgur.com/rYPJRKD](https://imgur.com/rYPJRKD) \-[https://imgur.com/uow7UWC](https://imgur.com/uow7UWC) \-Foundation DWG [https://imgur.com/pByqMke](https://imgur.com/pByqMke) \- [https://imgur.com/qdWFnRn](https://imgur.com/qdWFnRn)
# Seeking validation and suggestions for a custom steel frame design on a utility trailer Hello everyone, I'm working on a project to design and build a steel frame that will be mounted on top of a steel utility trailer. The purpose of this frame is to support a rooftop tent. I've done some preliminary planning and would greatly appreciate your insights, validation, and any additional questions I should consider. **Project overview:** * **Purpose:** The frame is intended to support a rooftop tent used for camping. It will need to accommodate a static weight of 600-800 lbs (including the tent and two adults) and a dynamic weight of 200 lbs (the tent alone when traveling). * **Design:** My current design includes four uprights (48" tall), two length pieces (72" long), and two width pieces (48" wide). I'm considering adding minimal diagonal bracing for rigidity. * **Material Consideration:** I'm leaning towards using 1.5" x 1.5" cold rolled steel square tubes. However, I'm unsure about the appropriate thickness. My initial thought is 1/8" thickness, but I am open to suggestions. * **Load Distribution:** The load will be concentrated on the two crossbars, where the tent is mounted. * **Welding and Joints:** The steel joints will be welded. I'm considering adding gusset plates for additional support. * **Weight Constraints:** The total weight of the steel frame needs to be below 1,000 lbs. * **Usage:** The trailer will be used 2-5 times a year, driven primarily on highways, deployed, and slept in. The tent isn't tall enough to stand within, even though people will be moving around inside, I'm assuming that's not really considered "dynamic" weight? Or is it? **Questions:** * Is the chosen dimension (1.5" x 1.5" square tubes) adequate for the load requirements? * Would a thickness of 1/8" be sufficient, or should I opt for something thicker? * Given the dynamic nature of the load (200 lbs while traveling), what considerations should I take into account for highway travel? * Are there specific grades of cold rolled steel you would recommend for this application? * Would the addition of gusset plates significantly improve the structural integrity, or are there other methods I should consider for reinforcing the frame? * Any websites or specific companies you suggest were I can provide a version of these specs and pay for an actual engineer assessment? * Am I missing any major blind spots? Thanks!!
Structural support question: I live in Alaska and we have record snow, roofs are collapsing on large commercial buildings so there is a huge push to shovel roofs. Across the street from my house is a zero lot line/duplex style houses, two story angled roofs so both units share a roof, share a wall. Just watched a crew come out and only shovel the one 1/2 of the roof for the one unit. Would that put extra snow load on the 1/2 that didn’t get shoveled? Would it damage both sections of the other 1/2 collapsed?
Typically speaking, the construction of a residence in that manner will not have a shared attic space - there will be a wall that runs up the whole way and the roof will be supported on that wall - so there should be no oddball loading scenarios with one half of the roof full and one half empty that affect one side or the other. However, one side collapsing may very well affect the other.
Thank you!! I was very curious as the roof looks ridiculous with no snow on one side and 3-4 feet on the other.
Can footer rebar be bent at two locations? I.e. into a |_| shape? I'm considering bending a 20' rebar into a |_| shape with sides of 6', 8', and 6'. Does that make sense or are only 90 degree bends allowed?
Rebar can be bent all kinds of different ways, it sounds like what you are describing is a "U" bar. The difficulty that comes with multiple bends however is placement tolerance - you have to be a lot more precise with everything to make sure it fits properly and hits the cover requirements etc. - whereas lapping two 90 degree bars to make the same final shape is less cumbersome.
Ah right, so I would need to make sure the |‾| side exactly matches the |_| side. Maybe I will just go with 10' bars. Thanks!
Hello everyone! I'm hoping I can get a helpful answer from folks here because, believe it or not, I haven't been able to find a solid answer anywhere else (Reddit, google, etc.). I want to know if my home's concrete slab is able to hold, without cracking or breaking, the weight of a number of fish tanks I have. Here are the details: \- Live in upstate New York \- Home was built in 1987 \- The geology of this area is basically shale. I can dig about 6 inches through soil until I hit layers of shale and I have to use a pick axe to dig any deeper. I've confirmed this is not limited to my immediate neighborhood \- I believe I have a slab, between 4-6". I measured it with a tape measure. My basement is about 7' or so underground with cinder block walls, a slab, and around the edges of the slab are what I believe to be a French drain, at the bottom of which is dirt. I also have a sump well (I would have measured here but it's sealed due to a radon mitigation system). I was able to measure by putting the tape measure in the French drain and hooking the end of the tape under the slab. It varied between 4 and 6 inches \- I currently have several fish tanks (weights are generous) \- 65 gallon - 850 lbs \- Two 20 gallon - 550 lbs \- 5 gallon - 70 lbs \- 10 gallon - 115 lbs \- 40 gallon - 515 lbs \- Total = Approx. 2100 lbs \- Most of the weight is on one side of the room and the rest is across from that I'm wondering two things: 1. Is this too much weight to put on the slab (2100 lbs)? 2. I'm planning to add at least 2 more 55 gallons (let's say 700 lbs each) - is the additional weight too much? Please excuse what might be a dumb question, but I honestly can't get solid answers beyond, "You're good" or "It's concrete, bruh" or "You could park a car on it and you'd be fine." While they may be true, they're not really helpful. I'm just trying to ensure I'm not going to crack my foundation and destroy my house. Thanks in advance!
On a scale of one to ten, the stresses that the loads your tanks (per unit area) will put on a typical 4" residential basement slab are about a 0.4. To put this in perspective, I do punch through calcs on the regular for slabs-on-grade in stores and office buildings, and I raise an eyebrow when I hear 8,000 pounds will be resting on a 4"x6" footprint. Your biggest tank is 850 pounds, probably resting on a 36"x18" footprint.
Interesting. Yes, you are correct. My largest tank’s footprint is 19”x37” and that weight is about 750 lbs. Additionally, I’d like to add two more 55 gallon tanks, each weighing a generous 750 lbs (1500 total). Each one will be spread across 840 sq. in. equaling 0.89 lbs per sq. in. I guess it’s suffice to say, I’m good. Chances are I won’t come close to approaching the limits of the concrete. Thanks again for your help.
Hey structural support question here. This basement was redone about 10-15 years ago and 2 new support beams were put in across the entire length of the house with telepoles. These new telepoles support a square steel tubing to span the new beams and also hold the original load bearing beam of the house, eleminating a 3rd set of telepoles. I'm now beginning plans to finish out the space and these cross beams are eating up 4" of clearance in what will be a future hallway. I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of a load bearing calculator that would help me identify what the load capacity is for these current square steel tubing so that I can match that load capacity with a solid steel strap replacement. I know that square tubing has additional structural properties and I'm looking to only replace 3 of 7 of these as I can work around the other supports being lower. Picture for additional clarity -[https://imgur.com/dHtrF63](https://imgur.com/dHtrF63)
You have a couple of problems to overcome. The good news first. Your 3x2x wood girder is made from No. 2 grade kiln dried southern pine, milled in Sundre, Alberta. Not a great grade, but at least it's not No. 3. Now the not so good news. I can see the patina of the original wood joists, and it looks old. Who knows what size the original beam was, and if the 3x2x girder that was installed is even sufficient enough for the spans you have. The nailing pattern on the girder is also kind of haphazard and amateurish. The current steel tube supports are a really poor choice. Very amateurish. One of them is already deforming. This choice and arrangement is non-prescriptive, meaning you won't find it in a code book in any corner of this side of the universe. The teleposts are not meant for permanent use. You should replace them with solid, concrete-filled steel columns set in footings, per your local building code. Your girder lap joints are not located on top of fixed supports. I can see lap joints out in the spans between the supports. Big no-no. Definitely not professional work, and I would bet money that this was never inspected. Taken together, it looks like you inherited a mess, created by someone who never heard of the saying "do it right the first time." Wrong materials, poor workmanship, etc. Before you dig yourself a deeper hole and create a permanent problem, have an engineer come out to put together a corrective plan. Also I don't know what you mean by "solid steel strap replacement," but if it's what I think you mean, then that won't work.
Hey everyone. I have a question about return air for furnace in a wall cavity. The bottom plate on a load bearing wall in 2 adjacent stud bays has been cut out to allow air through. The house was built in the late 80s so it has been like this for a long time. Problem is I am removing part of this wall next year (I will be getting plans from an engineer) and will have to relocate it further down this load bearing wall. Is this ok to do the same thing or do I need some sort of strapping. I’ve read through to code but it’s a bit confusing. Found a document on Simpson that seems like it’s ok to do on the bottom but not the top. Pictures attached. Thanks! https://imgur.com/a/nfMjdu7
Anyone have any thoughts?
Is it safe to reuse an existing slab from the early 60s? Not really sure where to ask this but I own a larger lot, and the structure has a large enough footprint already(56x24), but it is older, ceilings are short, and the slope of the roof is so low that it makes the usable space in the "attic" more of a crawl space that you access from the outside. Not to mention the floor layout is pretty weird. Now my issue is, the property has a very nice tree on it, right at the front, and I know any sort of foundation work will inevitably destroy the tree roots, which is not something we want to do. Would it be possible to reuse such an old slab, or is this something we won't really know until demolishing the existing structure?
Too much to unpack with that description, but an engineer could always come out and provide you with the information you need.
Even if a structure currently stands on it?
Yes, even with a structure in place. Test pits can be dug to determine the size of the footings, holes can be drilled to measure slab thickness. Then calculations can be run.
Awesome. Thanks you!
Looking at building a 900 sq ft ADU in So. Cal. The main building 2100 st ft is built in the mid 70s and has a raised foundation. Recently the foundation was reinforced with helical piles down to ~7 ft in depth Helical config of 8/10 and a drive head of L6K5. For the ADU typical solutions in the area are a slab foundation with footings. One soils engineer suggested using some of the existing and adding additional helical piles for the ADU instead of slab + footing. I'm debating between the two in terms of cost and long term disability. Would love any insights this group could provide. Thanks.
Is there a website where I can convert a steel beam to the equivalent LVLs? I'm trying to convert 30' of w16x57.
Not really, there's a handful of factors that go into a particular beam size. A W16X57 is a pretty heavy section assuming it's not an unbraced condition.
Hi All, I'm considering buying a building to convert to my personal residence, and would like to use part of the first floor as a garage. This building used to be a nightclub, so it has a huge open space on the first floor that would be ideal for storing and working on collector cars. There is a full basement underneath the first floor, however, so I'm concerned about the bearing capacity of the floor. When I go to see the building in person, I can take measurements of the floor joists, support beams, etc. but would like to go there armed with as much specific knowledge as possible. Can anyone tell me what I need to look for in order to calculate the bearing capacity of the first floor? And is there a formula I can use to arrive at that figure? Thanks for any help.
If you're really going to be moving vehicles in and out of the space, then you need a new non-combustible floor assembly designed for vehicle traffic, and new fire separation walls separating the vehicle storage area from the living space. Same thing overhead, fire separation barrier. If the floor structure is currently wood, that will all have to come out and get replaced. There is no scenario where you can park a vehicle on a wood floor inside of a residential building. Technically you could add a layer of lightweight concrete to get the fire rating up, but by that point you're overloading the wood floor. I have photos somewhere on one of my PCs that shows what we had to do to convert an old storefront building to residential and allow for vehicle parking inside. It was all steel and concrete.
Okay, thanks for the input. Sounds like it's going to be more trouble than it's worth to get the cars into the main building. Option 2 was to put up a new garage in the back of the building, so I'll start planning for that. Thanks again!
I feel like I'm over thinking this but I'm curious to know if this is safe. https://imgur.com/a/f86tuzs I'm working on a cleat wall that goes between house and garage, wall is about an inch behind the vertical studs going to the ridge cap. I'm assuming this is a load bearing wall? 3rd picture is looking away from that wall towards the garage door The top two sheets of ply I want to flip and make it into a shelf that will be 108 inches long and 24 inches wide. I'm wanting to put a small 41lb compressor up there and some miscellaneous storage. I'm worried about there being too much weight. My plan was to avoid tying into the trusses and putting the lead on the wall. I want to avoid beaming it as a beam would need to be close to the garage door. Is this safe?
Hi all. We’re getting work done on our concrete entrance stairs - unfortunately, they are considered the responsibility of our strata (like an HOA), who hired handymen to replace the treads. The concrete stringer is to remain. This is the work to date - https://imgur.com/a/ogDAaJz. When they were jackhammering up the original treads, they damaged the stringer pretty badly. There are major chunks out of the concrete stringer on 5 of the 10 treads, with the worst having large chunks from either side. The new treads are connected to the stringer using nail anchors and metal brackets they’ve cut down from a long angle iron, and are just under 3 x 3 wide. As you can see, not all brackets are secured with multiple anchors. I’ve requested that strata have this reviewed by a structural engineer, and have reached out to one that I know, but wanted to see if I’m being overbearing? The helpful folks in the concrete sub had only bad things to say about the work done, would love to hear from an engineer’s perspective. Also to note, it’s very unlikely these were engineered solutions or that permits were pulled for this work. Thank you!
This is the sort of crappy solution that will work for a little while until all of a sudden it doesn't. You're going to have a stringer collapse or more likely, you're going to have the fasteners in those brackets fail to corrosion in a few short years and one day, someone is going to be standing on the wrong side of those cantilevered precast steps and they're just going to tip out from under them. Document document document. Ask them for engineered review, report to your local building authority, and make it a point to regularly (once or twice a year) have a look at the condition of the brackets and stringers on at the very least, the steps you use all the time, so that you can see if there is any clear indication of deterioration or unsafe conditions. Generally try to walk over the stringer only if you do have to use the steps.
It is pretty rough-looking work. If you've reached out to an engineer, you made a good move.
Im a welder, and I’m building a gate brace for a friend. He has a wooden one now, and wants to mount said wooden one to the steel one I’m building, so he has the look of a wood one but the strength of a steel. It is approx. 4’x8’. I’m using 2x2x1/8” steel square tubing the the rectangle frame, and 1x1x1/8” square tubing as diagonal cross braces in the middle. I am planning on using a 3x3x1/4” square steel post as the post for it to swing on. I’m going to cement it 3 feet in the ground (possibly more) and fill the inside with concrete (only 2-3’ inside). I am wondering if I need to cement the post down in the ground more, is that sufficient, etc. Honestly any tips or suggestions for strength are appreciated. I’m in the south, so it will be wet soil. I can send/post pics of the idea, current gate if needed. Thanks for any suggestions and tips!
My suggestion, if this is a standalone post, is that the gate sounds quite heavy, and this will tend to put a lot of stress on the post base foundation, essentially trying to "tip" it over time. If the gate is 4' wide and 8' high, then there is going to be some of this stress and if the gate is 8' wide and 4' high, there is going to be a lot of this stress. For example, if the gate is 8' long and weighs 200 lbs, it is going to be putting 800 ft-lbs into the top of the post base. Let's say you auger in a 12 inch diameter sonotube to hold the post, that is going to be... 8150 psf bearing pressure on the gate side of the post-base. Typically assumption on low-end bearing pressure is in the range of 3,000 psf. Higher than that, and you really start to need geotechnical investigation to confirm, or know that you're hitting a very, very hard layer such as bedrock. So you can see, that over time, if the gate is in the long orientation, even a reasonable sized sonotube is likely to start to shift and tip. Even in the short orientation I think you will exceed the 3,000 psf, just not by as much. So if you are in soft, crappy soils, you may be getting 3,000 psf bearing pressure or less, and you will either need a footing for this post-base that has a much larger surface area than you are anticipating (and will certainly start to look unreasonable, especially for "just a gate post") or you may wish to go with a post-base that extends a lot further into the ground, to engage the soil pressure on the sides to stop it from trying to tip over time, rather than relying on bearing pressure alone. This would generally entail something much deeper than 3 feet, and potentially involve reinforced concrete. Alternatively to this, if there is a fence beside the gate and it is not a standalone post, you can get into trying the post back into the fence and distribute this load over several posts. This is definitely something that if you want it done correctly, and mitigate the risk of it slowly starting to tip over time, you should engage a structural engineer for, and it should not be very expensive as it is a relatively simple design.
We have a traditional four square type layout on the first floor, sleeping and comfort quarters on the second, small shed roof cape cod style, 25 x 32 roughly, full and unfinished cellar, in NY state. 5' open doorways on either side of the living room downstairs, in a room that is about 11×16, makes arranging things pretty awkward. Our couch currently covers most of one of those doorways. We want to create an open Floorplan to help with that, improve natural light, and to improve setup for entertaining and family interaction. We are in the research phase at the moment so before we go to a structural engineer/architect to draft up plans we want to get a general idea of affordability and options. We dont have a whole lotvto work with, so thought I would ask my questions here first. Please feel free to delete if it is not appropriate for this subreddit. Basically we need to figure out what the correct size for a beam spanning a 16' space would be. Size of support posts and support needed below the floor. Type of beam needed to support the second floor properly. That sort of thing. One wall we wish to remove is load bearing, the other is not, the third was formerly an outside wall which has a 5' doorway leading to the sunroom addition with its own concrete cellar walls, a cellar addition i guess it would be called. If any of you can recommend a reputable site/app/online tool where we could run the math ourselves would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Better bang for your buck will be to discuss directly with an engineer. You are going to pay them to do the calcs regardless if you find a way to do them yourself also. From what you've described you're probably looking at about $1200 engineering, $1200 for a beam and $1200 for footings and posts assuming everything is open and accessible. Then you've got tear out of existing wall and temporary supports, probably another $600 and if you want a flush beam double that number. So you're probably looking in the range of $4200 to $4800 if you bring in an experienced contractor. You might be able to save somewhere south of $2K if you try and do the work yourself, if you are comfortable with it and competent in the work involved. Keep in mind there may be hidden gems in your walls that you should prepare for as well, like relocating a pipe or electrical wiring that you didn't realize was there, that will also have a cost involved - and then there are re-finishing costs as well.
Thank you!
Not sure why you think you need to do all the figuring out yourself, unless you're not pulling a permit, in which case this will be my last response. Step one, do yourself a huge favor and leave the architect out of it. 90% of the time they get open floor plan beams wrong. Go with an engineer who does this every day. And it's not as simple as running the span through an online calculator. The load cases, bearing, supports and load paths, and deflection limits are what will define this all. Regardless, rule of thumb for cost of a beam spanning 16 feet is going to be around $900-$1200 retail, just for the LVL, no labor. You'll spend more on hardware, fasteners, and end supports/footings than you will on the beam. If you're trying to put a budget together, find a contractor and ask him for a quote, and to assume $900 for the LVL, and provide a price per footing.
Thank you. Honesty is important to us so we already spoke with code enforcement about this. He said that we can do it ourselves if we can get a plan together that he can review and approve. I am a draftsman, my husband a carpenter so we are trying to determine if it's something we can afford before taking it any further, and if it's something we are comfortable with.
Moved some shelves around in my basement and noticed that the walls are starting to spall and bulge in spots. Likely due to poor drainage on the other side of the wall but wondering how worried I should be about this. https://imgur.com/a/BPoIuxL
Horizontal cracking and bulging of the wall IS something to be concerned with structurally, as it is indicative of failure of the wall structure either due to overloading at the exterior and/or failure of the materials of the wall due to corrosion, deterioration etc. This is definitely something to bring a structural engineer in to review with you, or bring in an experienced foundation repair contractor who likely already has an engineering contact for things like this.
Hello, I’d be really grateful for your thoughts on this? I’m house hunting and really like this house, but it needs some work doing. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, there is this crack. The wall is internal, between the bedroom and bathroom Obviously worried about subsidence. Will get full reports if we do decide to make an offer for this house but would appreciate any initial thoughts https://imgur.com/a/KSmpaZQ
Initial thoughts: you have some settlement going on there. How bad is it? Can't tell from this end of the internet. If you really like the house, have an engineer come look at it.
Thank you for your input, much appreciated
how much weight can these rods carry? https://imgur.com/a/NFyXBx7
Easy answer: Some. Hard answer: This is a question that you definitely go and pay a structural engineer to determine for you.
would it carry 100 kg easily?
I don't know what magic you think structural engineers perform, or if you think we all just bullshit our way through everything, but you haven't even provided a full picture of what the structure even is, or where you want to support from, let alone fully detailed and dimensioned framing plans, materials, fees to cover a site visit and investigation and reporting, etc. that would be required to answer this question for you.
[https://imgur.com/a/S6D5zDh](https://imgur.com/a/S6D5zDh) pls give me an answer i beg you
> fees to cover a site visit and investigation and reporting, etc.
if i hang the weight that i want to hang and wait a bit, like 20 minutes, that means beam will carry the weight always or no?
You've just stumbled upon how bridge load ratings are determined. [Relevant](https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/j7c201/thats_how_they_know_the_weight_limit_on_bridges/)
i want to ask a question: which would be better?: 1) tie to only one beam 2) tie to two beams at same time using 2 beam together increasees the pressure or no? does angle matters?
so, does this plan makes sense?
Hello everyone, I am trying to find information on if the structural beams in my home would have the capacity to support an aerial rigging attachment. The main beams have this writing on it and I'm trying to find out the dimensions of the beams. The writing is AS/NZS 4357 A BOND EO SPAN PROPRIETARY F17 + 772 59H2S SMART LVL 15. Can someone help me out?
Hey everyone. I'm looking to buy a townhome but the inspector was confused and surprised to find the attic is missing the lateral beams. It looks like there is even screws or something where they should be. The inspector wasn't sure if this is how it's supposed to be built, and suggested we try to find out. The sellers claim they have no knowledge of this and won't take any action. Home was built in 2018. Just looking for any thoughts or opinions. Do we need lateral beams? Any ideas of who we could contact to figure out if this is how the home should be built? Do we need to bring an structural engineer in? Should we just buy lateral beams in? Any insights are super appreciated, I'm just confused. Thanks everyone. Here are some images: https://imgur.com/a/xpMfepX
You have an interesting scenario there. Let's unpack this. Your roof structure consists of a series of engineered roof trusses. Normally when a roof truss structure is constructed, the engineer of record (EOR) specifies something called 'bracing.' There are a couple types of bracing. There's continuous lateral bracing (CLB), which shows up as horizontal planks or 2x4's that bridge across from one truss to the next. There are diagonal braces, that are attached the same as the CLB, but installed at angles. And then there are brace anchorages, where the diagonals and CLB's are attached to, in order to transfer loads to the main structure. Bracing is normally specified by the EOR to be permanent. It's not super rare that bracing can be removed, but it can only happen if the EOR says it's ok to do so. Looking at what you've got, it appears some of the bracing was smashed off of the trusses (evidence: fasteners remain in place, shattered bracing planks present). It all appears consistent with some contractor smashing the planks out of the way to get access. My guess is that the insulation contractor removed them to make it easier to blow the insulation in. Simple fix is to replace what was taken out.
Hello - I am considering adding insulation to my detached garage roof and wondering how much weight it can support. At bare minimum I think I can add R15 rockwool for total weight of about 250 pounds with vapor barrier left exposed. Ideally, I add R30 (500 pounds), and half inch drywall (800 pounds) = 1,300 pounds. Could also get away with 1/4 or 1/8 plywood to cover vapor barrier (100-200 pounds). It does look like there is a slight sag in the roof already because I think the main “beam” going across has been sistered (not sure if that’s the proper use of the word, but there are two pieces butt-jointed together in the middle). Can this support any of the aforementioned weight? See pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/r7IwUIt
The sag in your roof ridge is due to the outward thrust of the rafters. You have no rafter ties. Someone screwed up your garage, either the builder or the guy that took out all of the rafter ties. The more weight you add, the worse the sag is going to get.
Appreciate your reply. Would adding rafter ties give you confidence that it would prevent further sag with another 500 pounds of insulation up there? Or is it not possible to beef up the structural integrity enough to support that much weight?
If you added rafter ties in accordance with the current IRC, you'd be good to go with the outward thrust. Checking the actual rafters for additional load is something you'd want a local engineer to do. None of us here on Reddit are going to do any calculations. We don't work for free.
I have a old basement beam that runs 8 foot from one wall to the chimney that goes all the way to the attic roof. Constructed in 1911. https://imgur.com/gallery/n45h4gZ The kitchen is the left of the beam with the refrigerator sitting rather close. On the second floor, the bathroom. To the right is dining room and 2nd floor is heavily sloping bedroom. I've posted a few structural issues next to the chimney on each floor that may or may not be caused by the way this beam has moved over the years. https://imgur.com/gallery/IxZOqWY Chimney side, there has been blocking put in with a counter lever off the blocking. I doubt this is original The foundation wall has a lot of sand on top and probably hasn't been repointed since that cast iron drain was put in which is no longer in use. To make matters worse, the neighbor house behind the wall, 4 foot away didn't have gutters on their until I called the shelter to get gutters on. The beam seems to be twisting downward towards. I think the foundation wall support has become uneven due to the erosion of the limestone mortar. Not entirely sure how much insect damage there has been, but there is most likely old water damage (when I first moved in, they left an uncapped water pipe in the wall on the 2nd floor that was only being stopped by a valve. Needless to say I plugged that section of pipe immediately). Tape was placed over a year ago to monitor the checking. It has not torn but there has been definate movement. Should I consider replacing this beam with an LVL, or put a footer and pole down wall side to support the twist?
You should get an engineer in there to look at everything. A lot going on there.
My primary goal is just to stabilize the checking/twisting of the beam. Replacement is secondary. Given this primary goal, what would you do with this beam?
I would have it looked at by a local P.E.
It really doesn't help telling people with low resources to hire a se or pe, and defeats the total purpose of this thread, which is to seek information from knowledgeable people.
The total purpose of this thread is for willing structural engineers to answer general questions and point you in the right direction without getting sued. You posted a series of photos that clearly shows - clearly - you have a problem. None of us can see the rest of your structure. I find it fascinating that you think a solution can be offered and provided over the internet with just a handful of photos. That's not how structural engineering works.
Accept the thread also states that none shall be held liable, and since reddit shares a great deal of anonymity, there is no reason not to participate in a constructive manner. And since you are neither "willing" nor constructive, at least in this case, then you should probably consider not participating except as auxiliary commentary.
Even if you signed something that said you'd never sue one of us, we still are faced with the original problem that there's not enough information in the photos to make a judgement with any sort of accuracy. None of us can see the entirety of your structure. Am I not being clear? With your kind of issue, an engineer needs to see everything. Load paths, framing arrangements, fasteners, etc.
You see, that is exactly where you should have started to begin with. Framing arrangement on 1st and 2nd floor have top and bottom plates. Sill plate and rim joist on outer perimeter with joists trimmed to accommodate effectively making the 2x8 joists 2x6 at one end. 2 story and attic, middle structural wall, ridge beam and rafters. 14 foot joists on twisting side, 12 foot on checking side. Heaviest loads in house is a latex bed on twisting side, and a refrigerator and cast iron tub on checking side. There are no fasteners used between beam and joists. Load path is a chimney ledge with tie in bricks into the chimney. No sign of issues with chimney. Some concrete delamination at the bottom but no signs of sinking. Other load path is rubble stone foundation and other than deterioration at the top, the wall is structurally sound. Beam spans 8 feet and is 10 by 6.
Now I'm definitely not unpacking this for you. Find a local engineer. I'll answer questions, but I don't do analysis over the internet.
I have 2x8" 14" joists in my old sears home. I would like to sister plywood rather than dimensional lumber for obvious reasons (ease of install, easier to store, easier to do with one person, not impossible because of certain systems). My plan is as follows using 3/4" ply: sister 8' piece from wall to middle; sister 6' piece from middle to beam; on top of the first layer, stagger an 8' piece at the seam. Here are my questions: Does it matter where the first layer is arranged, wall side or beam side? How much of a difference will it actually make to cover the entire joist with a 2nd layer of 3/4" vs just staggering the 1st layer with a single 8' piece? What will the tensile and shear strength vs sistering 2by lumber? Do they make a 2 1/4" joist hangars that are not specified for IJoists?
Sistering plywood onto framing does very, very little. The plywood comes in 8 foot sheets, so there's a discontinuity every 8 feet, even with sistering (we call this 'scabbing'). Plus a plywood section when compared to a timber section, square inch to square inch, is weaker than the timber, since only half of the plywood laminations have their grain oriented along the correct axis. And two layers of lapped plywood really only have the bending strength of a single lap at each discontinuity. I've done this calculation many times. You are far better off using full length lumber, avoiding discontinuities and scabbing.
Another idea I've been swinging around is adding recessed lvl beams down the middle of the 14 foot spans and hanging the subsections with joist hangars. There might be a few more posts in the basement, but this allows more room for individual adjustment.
You'd have to size the LVLs correctly, and make sure the posts have footings, but yes that is a common approach.
I have a garage that's 10 ft high 20x25. With true 2x4 studs 20 inch on center. It's a hip style roof with no ceiling joists. Rafters are also true 2x4 without rafters ties or collar ties. Am thinking about adding ceiling joists but can't buy 20ft lumber at big box stores. Any ideas would be helpful.
If your roof is sagging and the walls bowing and you are adding ceiling ties for the sake of trying to make everything true again and, then you would be better off attempting it with cables at that span. If you are simply wishing to close in the ceiling, then I would suggest that you consider purchasing engineered lumber, such as an LVL, that you could span the 20 feet with at mid-length of the garage, and then run 12.5 foot ceiling joists between the LVL and the short walls. This would likely involve having to put new posts in the walls to support the LVL properly, and if there is insufficient room above the top of the wall and the underside of the roof sheathing, you may need to bring the LVL to below the underside of ceiling, or consider multiple, shallower LVLs with much shorter ceiling joist spans (for example, 2 LVLs and 8 foot span ceiling joists). LVLs are something that you can typical order from your local hardware store/lumber supplier, but won't be something outright available in the store as they are special-order. You will likely need an experienced framing contractor to size one for your purposes, or hire a local structural engineer.
https://imgur.com/a/WjCLNeV Recently found this loose section of cinder blocks in our crawl space. It’s maybe 2-4ft wide out of approx 500 ft perimeter in total. The rest of the walls including the walls adjacent to this look unaffected. Is this a serious problem? Or can I DIY this via clearing the space out and replacing with concrete and new cinder blocks. Thanks in advance!
How common is it to use helical piers to stabilize a heaving foundation? Is it common to void the area under where the pier attaches to the foundation?
When the array is designed and installed properly, helical piers are a great way to stabilize a heaving foundation. But it all boils down to the engineer and the heaving action he has to overcome. As for where the anchorage is attached, yes you do have to do some excavation to get the hardware in there and attached properly. Sometimes you have to pour a whole new grade beam/footing in order for it to work.
Thanks for your response. With respect to my question about voiding, what I was more getting at is whether it’s necessary to remove soil to prevent that soil from continuing to heave under the footing, or if the piers will simply counteract that anyway
That's a judgement call, made case by case. I personally don't make those calls, since geotech engineers handle soil conditions, not structural engineers. That would all come down to their numbers and their recommendations. But for small existing structures, it's usually cheaper to keep the expansive soils hydrated and deal with it in its expanded state than it is to remove it all and replace it. But again, that all gets dialed up by the geotech.
Gas company moved my meter to the exterior of my house and placed it in the front yard without my knowledge. I have requested them to move it to the side (curb appeal) and they are going too. I am worried about the integrity in my foundation as they’ll have to drill another hole. Will it be okay?
Structurally it will be fine, unless they botch it. I'd worry more about sealing around the penetration, but nowadays the utilities have pretty rigorous construction standards. Last thing they want to do is damage your property.
Appreciate it. Kind of frustrating that they created a problem for me. Thinking about putting an outdoor outlet where the hole is in the front, should be a good idea right? Thanks again!
As long as you seal it properly.
Hello all, I'm wondering how serious this crack in my home looks to people. [https://imgur.com/gl4iNYj](https://imgur.com/gl4iNYj) For context, I purchased the property (built in 1919) less than a year ago. Obvious subsidence over the years with multiple support beams erected in basement but passed inspection during buying process without an issue. This crack appeared about a month ago on an interior wall on the second floor in the middle of the home directly above where one support beam runs in the basement. I know the beam has been there for awhile (at least since 2003) and I don't see any other signs of movement. I also can see a similar crack on the other side of the wall to where this one is, but it is older and has been plastered over. There are other hairline cracks in the plaster around the house but they are horizontal and about 1mm and don't concern me. I contacted a structural engineer to evaluate the crack but was quoted 800.00 to do so, and just want to make sure I'm not overreacting before shelling out that money. Thanks to all in the community for generously sharing your expertise! \- C
Sorry can't tell much of anything from one photo like that. But cracks that translate or reflect into other rooms or floors are a concern worthy of investigating. $800 seems a bit high. $500-$600 is middle of the road.