Hello everyone been a while since I have posted here. The house I just bought has a built up triple 2×8 beam carrying the floor joists. The span between piers is about 12ft and the beam has between a 1/2″ to an 1″ sag. No doubt the beam is not rated to carry the floor. I am looking for ideas on how to fix this. I thought of replacing the 2x with a micro or maybe adding a new footer with a post mid span and jacking up the beam to get the sag out. Just looking other ideas. The house is on a crawl with plenty of room to work.
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Replies
Your on the right track, but be prepared to repair joints in the floor and cracked walls and ceilings. Houses that settle tend to not want to go back to level.
Is there a wall over the beam? A triple 2x8 spanning 12' just carrying floor is not absurdly undersized. It might be a little but depends upon what is sitting on the beam.
Does the beam have a belly mid span or is it low all the way across? (you say sag so I am assuming it is the beam but make sure you are certain before proceeding. Perhaps the pier footings were not installed on compacted ground and the piers settled.
If it is the beam, and adding a mid-span post will not interfere with future use (is it in a crawl where you dont care or is it in a basement that will get finished later?) then the easiest thing, I believe, would be to add a little footing mid-span and set another pier.
To minimize all the cracking and crunching of everything you are jacking, I would put a bottle jack under it and pump it up about 1/8" every few days or so. If you get after it and jack all at once, things will tend to crack more than if you let them relax after some stress. (If moisture levels are low, the wood will be less forgiving as well so if you are in the north this time of year, try to humidify a little to minimize the stresses.