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i am soliciting for information on retrofitting my home with a steel i beam. my home was constructed in the early 1920’s, and is a wood frame consstructed on a brick foundation with a basement. The house is single story with plaster walls and cielings 10′ high. gable roof.the floor is framed with 2x8s 16″oc, cieling joists are 2×6″ 16″oc, rafters are 2x4s 24″oc . i plan on creating some additional living space in the future in the attic wich is currently unfinished. the house measures 24’x45′ and is currently supported by a solid timber member 8″ tall by 6″wide, this member is set into the masonry walls on either end, with 2 splices creating 3 pieces roughly 15′ each. verticle supports are in place under the 2 splices and in the center of each of the 3 timbers creating a max span of roughly 8-9′. my question is on the proper sizing of a steel beam. i am considering using a 8″ 18lb beam made of 3 sections, 2 splices and 5 verticle supports made of 3″ schedule 40 steel pipe. can anyone give me any advice on this subject, is this beam big enough ? what size of footings should i pour under each of the verticle supports? any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Vince, your post is not clear as to why you believe you should replace the wood beam. Is there something wrong with the current beam and the vertical supports? This beam appears to be down the center of the house - correct? - then the joist span is 12 feet per side. 2x8 OK for the first floor. Is there a load bearing wall above the beam, the length of the house? This would indicate ceiling joist spans also 12 feet each side. 2x6 OK for ceiling joists, but just OK.
Perhaps you are thinking that the addition of living space in the attic will place a strain on the wood beam in the basement. Someone else may be able to post beam span and size for you or you could have an engineer in your area do the calculations. Hopefully the original supports posts are already on individual footers and you can leave them alone.
I would be more concerned with the 2x6 span of 12 feet with the additional load of finished space and use. This could be a bit springy and cause plaster failure in the ceiling. (I got this far and remembered my span tables are on loan). If your 2x6's are full cut, possible in an older house, it might make a difference. Again, someone else may post with info or you could check with a local engineer.
*Hey how about getting all your posts together?
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i am soliciting for information on retrofitting my home with a steel i beam. my home was constructed in the early 1920's, and is a wood frame consstructed on a brick foundation with a basement. The house is single story with plaster walls and cielings 10' high. gable roof.the floor is framed with 2x8s 16"oc, cieling joists are 2x6" 16"oc, rafters are 2x4s 24"oc . i plan on creating some additional living space in the future in the attic wich is currently unfinished. the house measures 24'x45' and is currently supported by a solid timber member 8" tall by 6"wide, this member is set into the masonry walls on either end, with 2 splices creating 3 pieces roughly 15' each. verticle supports are in place under the 2 splices and in the center of each of the 3 timbers creating a max span of roughly 8-9'. my question is on the proper sizing of a steel beam. i am considering using a 8" 18lb beam made of 3 sections, 2 splices and 5 verticle supports made of 3" schedule 40 steel pipe. can anyone give me any advice on this subject, is this beam big enough ? what size of footings should i pour under each of the verticle supports? any advice would be greatly appreciated.