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I have a (roughly 40 year old) house with a crawlspace, and then an upstairs above it - I believe this considered a 1.5 storey house. The upstairs is being held up by a long wooden support beam, and that beam is being held up by a metal pole but recently after getting forced-air HVAC installed, I found out it is not screwed into the wood support beam or to the concrete below. How dangerous is this?

I am thinking that for screwing the pole into the wood beam, we'd use wood screws, and then for screwing the pole into the ground, we'd use masonry screws? Does this sound accurate, and if so, does this sound safe? Is this something that would need to be reviewed by a structural engineer, or is this "safe" to do and very low risk? I think the pole is rated for 9000 pounds, if that matters.

Here is are pictures of the support beam and the pole: enter image description here
enter image description here enter image description here

Thanks.

SQB
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Smith99
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5 Answers5

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First that post is not carrying the load of the whole house. The beam is and the beam is attached on both sides. The post's job is to keep the beam from sagging and act as a point load.

I would not leave it like that for sure - and in my area there is no way in the world it would meet local code. Always have to be secured on both ends by at least two fasteners.

I would put a couple of big headed screws on the top plate and pop a couple ramset nails in the bottom. (MAKE SURE THE POST IS PLUMB BEFORE SCREWING!!)

Remember these posts are really strong for vertical forces... not horizontal.

What could happen if you don't secure it:

  1. Someone slams into it and knocks it out of place. At that time you find out that the beam was not really the right size, it starts creaking, 20 minutes later you hear cracking, your house caves in (I am kidding but hey could happen).
  2. Someone knocks the bottom of it. It seems fine. In actuality it's over 1-2" throwing off its angle. Now the beam starts sagging by 1/8" to meet the post... The wall above it lowers by 1/8" over a period of time and you notice small cracks in your drywall along the ceiling.
BMitch
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DMoore
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At least in the area where I live, that type of support post is used when a house is modified (wall was removed, to prop up a sagging beam, etc). If the house was designed to have a support post there, the post would either be the same type of wood as the rest of the frame or would be a solid (not adjustable) metal post. The lack of screws/bolts on either end reinforces the notion that this support was added after the fact.

What I don't see in your pictures are any markings on the concrete around the base. Support posts that are bearing significant load need to be placed on top of a footer. Since the house wasn't designed to have a post here, it's unlikely that there would be a footer in that exact spot. Before the post was installed, you'd cut a hole in the foundation and pour a footer deep enough to support the load. Doing this leaves noticeable cut marks on the foundation, and the old and new concrete are usually a slightly different color. Your floor looks nice and uniform, which makes me think that this wasn't done.

I recommend having a structural engineer take a look at this (many will give estimates for free). It may have been a DIY-type job by a former homeowner and may not have been done correctly. The load could end up cracking your foundation if this was installed improperly. The engineer can also ensure that the post is attached to the floor/beam according to building code.

bta
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Notice the post is not just supporting the beam, it’s holding up ends of the boards that make up the beam!

Would strongly recommend consulting an engineer ASAP and having the beam supported correctly. Versus any “I think it’ll be ok” patch that could indeed make things far worse.

2

As they say, not a real answer but can't comment. A caveat is that I don't actually know the local or national building code.

I just wanted to address the idea that it could have been intended to be temporary. While that's certainly possible, I disagree with bta's certainty. I've lived in several houses (one in QC and the rest in ON) and visited a few others, and all of them that had spans like that in the basement used adjustable posts like that. I also have my doubts that it would have been built without any support at all and added later. Having said that, I can't explain the lack of attachment.

The post was made in Canada (and the CMHC on it stands for Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a crown corp. that insures mortgages, so gets to set some building standards) so maybe that's where the OP is from, and it's a local (i.e. Canadian) practice.

Andy Mason
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Those incredibly cheesy "adjustable lally columns" are really rinky dink. Will it hold the beam? Yes. Will it eventually rust out or fracture? Yes.

You should never screw in a support post to a beam. Yes, I know there are all kinds of inspectors out there who say you should and even code saying you should, but those people are just totally ignorant about how physics works. The loads on those columns start at 5,000 pounds and go up to 30,000 pounds or more. A screw will do absolutely NOTHING to secure that column. Any kind of load against the screw will tear it out like the beam was made out of tissue paper. So do not screw into anything. All you will do is weaken the girder.

You should replace the adjustable column with a real lally column and use a heavy duty cast iron plate, not one of the cheap steel plates. The cast iron caps are sometimes sold as "Springfield caps". They look like this:

enter image description here

Notice how it is 1/4" cast iron NOT steel. Do not use an "adjustable" lally column. Have the column cut to the exact length needed, filled with cement, then capped. You then jack the girder 1/8" up, slid the column in place and lower the jack.

Don't believe the idiots who say that you have to screw in some lally column otherwise somebody might knock it out. There is TEN THOUSAND POUNDS on that column. Trust me, they are not knocking it out. And if they could knock it out, then structurally it is unsound to begin with. I have heard inspectors say crazy stuff like, "earthquake tremors could vibrate the column out unless it is secured with screws". This is just total BS by bozos who know zero about engineering or physics and are talking out of their butts. Do you ever see screws in ancient Egyptian temples? No, and there is a reason for that.

Tyler Durden
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