Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [beam]

Use this tag for primary horizontal load-bearing components in floor or roof systems. Do not use it to refer to common lumber (boards), or for posts (vertical supporting members).

Beams are horizontal supporting members which carry load from other members, such as floor joists and roof trusses.

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Is a main beam being held on by an angle iron a safe construction?

Some background: previous owners poured a new foundation and moved the house over to the new basement about 14 year ago. I've been in the house about 8 years and just noticed today while starting to re-do our basement that one of the main beams is…
Christopher C
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Is it safe to screw into a single support beam holding up an entire house?

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…
Smith99
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Contractor cut joist hangers to make them fit

(edited with additional info re. header) We are removing a couple of load bearing walls as part of renos in our home. The engineer specified a W8x21steel beam to replace the load bearing wall. The floor joists are 2x10. It appears the contractor…
user105375
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Why mate two boards instead of using one thicker board?

I need to build a footbridge across a creek and, due to soft and low land around it, will need a long span crossing the creek. I found this tutorial by Ron Hazelton where he makes a bridge with a 12' span with two beams supporting it, with supports…
Tango
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Is it safe to remove old rusty nails from a wooden beam?

During the renovation of our old house I uncovered a load-bearing beam which has a lot of old rusty nails just sticking out of it. By "a lot" I mean that there are around 50 nails in random places on a 2.5 meter long beam. Should I pull these nails…
Andor Polgar
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Why did they hammer nails in half way and bent them over to secure supports?

In my 1950s house they hammered nails in half way and bent them over to secure the supports to the beam. Why was this technique used?
Jay Prall
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Do ceiling joists need to rest on cross beams?

I am having a new home built by a national builder. They are framing now I see that ceiling joists in one area are not resting on a beam that divides two open rooms. See the photo. The beam that runs in from the left side separates two open rooms.…
AngerClown
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Support Beam Splitting

I bought an older house (1917) that had renovations done in 2009. I was in the basement earlier today with the oil delivery man and I noticed some of the support beams splitting. The inspector never said anything about the support beams so it may be…
user44111
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How to protect Building foundation from Dry wells

We have installed 6 dry wells around the building as there was no empty space for drainage water. We did this as per the engineer's advice. Sand texture: It's clay Water table 2 ( During rainy season ) to 4 feet ( During summer ) Ground water is…
Amogam
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Holes drilled in parallam beam: is this a structural problem?

The electrician drilled 3/4” holes on PSL parallam beams. Both beams are is 4”x12”. The first beam measures 13’ft long and the holes are about 3’ft away from the end. The second beam measures 23’ft and the holes are about 5’ft away from the end.…
Luis Contreras
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Where can I find information on making footbridges with a long span?

I have a creek I need to cross with a footbridge. While the creek is only about 3' wide, the main span of the bridge will have to be somewhere between 14-17' feet long, due to low, wet, and loose ground around it. I also have to deal with wetlands…
Tango
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Is it safe to remove screws from a 4x4 support beam without compromising it?

We have a home with a basement which has one room containing a 4x4 beam in the ceiling. Yesterday I screwed more than ten 2" #6 and 3-1/2" #10 screws into the beam for a project I was working on before deciding that I should re-evaluate the project…
Helixdnb
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It appears this support beam is shifting and the drywall is buckling underneath its weight, what would cause this?

It appears I have a support beam shifting, and the drywall is buckling underneath its weight. The beam has a crack appearing on one side where it butts up against the ceiling. There is a crack running horizontally where the beam butts up against…
dg6736
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Cannot figure out how to drywall basement wall underneath steel beam!

As you can see in the picture there is about a 3/8” offset from my beam to the studs. I would just shim it to cover that gap but the doors are framed for 1/2 drywall and the other side of this wall is finished. Not sure what to do to have a clean…
Caleb S
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how much bearing surface is required to support a beam

How much bearing surface is required to support a load bearing beam in a single-family residence? Are there tables? Are end gaps ok or required? A 1/4" to 3/8" end gap on each end (1/2" to 3/4" short overall) would be really helpful for getting it…
Bill
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