Here’s something you might not see every day.
I have a house that was built in the 1920’s. A long time ago, a two story addition was added to the back of the house. In the addition, there is a two story, load bearing wall with nothing under it, just air. It’s a long story, but when they did the addition, they only added a basement under half of the addition. Since there’s nothing supporting the load bearing wall, the whole floor assembly has dropped down and is now supported by the basement wall that’s in the middle of the house. (Luckily, the basement wall is about the same height as the floor joists should be.) It appears that it’s been like this for decades.
The unsupported load bearing wall is about 7 feet away from the middle basement wall that’s supporting the house.
We want to do some upgrades to our kitchen, which is in the addition. The floor waves all over the place. I’d like to jack up the floor before we do anything in the kitchen.
My questions –
1. There’s a 2×10 under the load bearing wall that all of the floor joists are attached to. Can I just jack up the 2×10 and put some posts under it with footings, or do I need a steel beam under there?
2. If I need a steel beam, because of it’s location, getting a big steel beam in there is going to be next to impossible. Could I use multiple LVLs laminated together in place of a steel beam?
Thanks In Advance,
Bob
Replies
I wish I could say I've never seen anything like that. But I've seen it before - Even on new construction.
I don't see why either a steel beam, LVLs, or conventional 2X lumber couldn't be used as a supporting beam. But someone needs to look the situation over to determine how much design load the beam is carrying, and make specific recommendations from there.
I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to my fellow creatures, let me not defer nor neglect it . . for I shall not pass this way again. [Stephen Grellet]
Please tell us where this is located -- perhaps someone can recommend a local engineer who could do a site visit and design the corrections you need. I've seen half a dozen LVL's bolted together because hand carrying them in one at a time was easier than handling a big piece of steel. A good engineer will take into consideration not only what needs to be there, but also how to get it in there. Bottom line, you need to start with an expert in person on site, and take it from there.
-- J.S.
John,
re >Please tell us where this is located -- perhaps someone can recommend a local engineer who could do a site visit and design the corrections you need
I'm in Kansas City, MO.
Thanks,
Bob