This isn’t a question, just a picture of something I found today. I’m sure it isn’t new to you pros who spend everyday working on older houses that have had multiple renovations. I’m building a garage onto the front of my house. I had two front doors, one of which has become the door to the garage. That door was added to the house in 1989 when the owners at the time added a living room onto the end. My guess is that this was to be used as a “guest door” since it opens into the dining room/living room area, while the other, original front door opens into the kitchen. I know it was a DYI project because the guy who owned the house at the time wrote his name and the date the door was added on the exterior sheeting. The drywall above the door has two cracked areas… now it makes sense as to why.
Apparently it was stylish in 1989 to not place a true header above a 36″ door in a load-bearing wall:
It’s not as clear in the picture as it is in person; but the double top plate above the door is sagging about 5/8″. Lots of scrap pieces of wood cobbled into the wall as well… and the octagon box for the light being used as a junction box for 5 different feeds is probably not optimal, either. I’m moving the door 23″ to the right; so I’ll be cleaning up the various messes as I go. IRC header span chart says I can get by with (2) 2×6’s as a header in this application. I have some leftover 7.25″ LVL that will otherwise go unused; so it may find a home here and just be total overkill.
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I'm not surprised; I found almost exactly the same thing in my house.
What did surprise me were the folks - property owners, contractors, and others who ought to know better - who thought the hackwork was perfectly proper. I mean, 2x6's cost money - and who can be bothered to look at header tables? It's only your house, after all.
In this area, folks seem to have an almost religious opposition to doing things 'right,' preferring to jumble in some kludge. At their cultured best, they then describe such 'engineering' in terms of another ethnic group.
The morale of this story is: Be particularly wary of any changes made to the original structure. This means you need to know how things were built 'back then,' what features were 'normal.' For example, houses of the 50's typically did NOT have laundry facilities; water heaters were often placed in the garage / carport. If you are looking at a 50's house that does have indoor laundry ... look real close at how that was done.
Welcome to my world.........
Lack of respect for the carpentry trade is a very common ocurrence. Many people seem to think it is an intuitive skill, training or knowledge is not required. Too often if you insist on doing it correctly folks think you are being a wacko perfectionist.
Sadly enough, this discovery is on parr with a number of other DIY gems I've found in the house over the years. And you're absolutely right: many people erroneously think the skill requirements for carpentry start and stop with being able to attach two boards together with nails (or 3" long drywall screws... those are just as good, right?)... and that includes both the DIY/weekend warrior types and many of the "handymen" who slap a magnetic sticker on the side of their truck. I once had someone "in the business" give me a hard time about using treated sill plates on a poured foundation... claiming that it's only necessary for a new construction if it has a "cinder block" foundation. I assume he meant CMU/concrete block; but decided that finding out for sure wasn't worth continuing to have a conversation with him. It is pretty amazing how wrong someone can get it and still have a building stand for several decades, though. I tend to go beyond minimum code requirement with everything; so maybe this garage will still be around in 100 years... even if the house is not!
Is that supposed to be the 1989 door and 1989 framing around it? If so, it looks like the "header" is quite a bit older, so you can't blame it on the 1989 work.
There was no door in the wall there before this one was added in 1989. What you see above the 1989 framing is the remains of what used to be king studs, that were cut off at an even height all of the way across so the new stuff could be put under them... new stuff that didn't include a header.
edit: I do see a couple of pieces of the old mixed in with the new, if that's what you're talking about. Probably used some of the scraps of the kings studs they cut out.