Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [structural]

Questions about the structure of a building (i.e. moving, adding or repairing walls).

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Is there a case where nails are better than screws, from an engineering/structural standpoint?

Is there a case where nails are better than screws, from a structural standpoint? For instance: Say you used screws instead of nails on a backyard deck, when the design specifically called for nails. Would the result be inferior? Could it fail…
Chris W. Rea
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Are there ways to determine if a wall is load bearing?

Other than looking up blueprints, which many homeowners may not have, are there ways to determine if a wall is load bearing?
Doresoom
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Are gaps above and below framing members a concern?

I recently hired a framing crew to frame a new house. After it was done, I commissioned an independent review. The reviewer described some of the work as "shoddy," and pointed out a lot of gaps, particularly between king and jack studs and the…
Alaska house
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How do I stop a creek from eroding my steep embankment?

Behind my house there is a very steep bank/slope that leads down to a decent-sized, slow moving creek about 10 - 12 ft wide. Unfortunately it meanders right behind my property at the base of this steep embankment: When we bought our house almost…
hotmeatballsoup
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Is this a load bearing column?

I’m trying to determine if a column in my house is load bearing. It’s at the corner of 2 pony walls and if it isn’t we might take out the column and the pony wall. There’s an extension of the 2nd floor hall above it, and it looks like directly…
StockTsi
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Is it unsafe to remove one stud from a load bearing wall?

I need to cut a hole for a recessed medicine cabinet. This wall is at the end of the house. I only need to cut one stud to make a frame for the cabinet. Will this damage the integrity of the bearing wall?
Sonia Leon
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Seemingly overbuilt basement wall - load bearing?

I'm doing some prep/exploratory work before I begin finishing my basement. Home was built in 1980 and has a cement block foundation. There is a seemingly random wall framed in the otherwise unfinished basement. I pulled one side of the sheetrock - I…
cxd213
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Diagonal brace left in the basement by builder. Can I remove it? Replace it?

I have a diagonal brace running across an interior wall in the basement, and it even goes partially into the floor concrete. Is this meant to be permanent, or was it supposed to be removed during construction? I want to finish the basement and put…
Egor
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Is my rapidly failing foundation dangerous?

I'll be succinct. I'm afraid we're having a full structural failure. Over the past week, crack after crack has been appearing in our plaster and walls. I'm honestly concerned for our safety. Our home was built in 1890 and is a two-story brick and…
Slytherincess
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Is notching a flange on an I-Joist ever acceptable?

My home builder said that the following notch in a flange on an I-Joist was acceptable, but I've read that you're never supposed to do so. Is that true?
gibbo
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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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Can I cut the small tab off of these rafters to make drywalling easier

I am finishing my garage and I have come to the point I need to start drywalling. I ran into a roadblock and would like to get opinions on how to proceed. The roof is a pyramid shaped hip roof and each rafter has a small "notch" where it meets the…
Yamaha32088
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How do I improve Pergola Stability?

The deck is nearly finished but I have a small structural problem with the pergola. A left or right force near the top of the pergola (such a a tall person leaning on the post) leads to a bit of noticeable wobble. Everything is rock solid at the…
Chris Cudmore
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Should I be concerned about the structural integrity of this 100-year-old garage?

I had an aunt who lived in a house that was built in 1923 and its detached garage was also built in 1923. I am in the process of fixing up both this house and the garage before the house is put for sale on the housing market. All the outer walls of…
user169255
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