Wife and I are 99% confident of who we’ll be selecting to finish off our basement. And that contractor has suggested to us several times that as part of the project we take the opportunity to replace our existing main support (metal) beam in the house. House 60+ years old, and the two visible columns to the main beam are both angled, so it is feasible that the house has settled a couple of degrees.
The contractor is suggesting the removal of the column because it’ll be pretty much smack dab in the middle of the finished off family room type space we are creating. The wife and I aren’t really worried about that, but he (and I trust the guy, to the extent I trust anyone who is basically a salesperson) thinks we’ll regret having it in the middle of the room.
I’m of the opinion that touching the support beam scares the cr&p out of me, I don’t want to cause more issues with the house. He would have a professional engineer come out to do the assessment, do stamped drawings etc. They would put in the obviously necessary temporary support structure and basically cut the existing beam out and slide a new one in via the side of the house.
What is wrong with the current beam? Is it simply that it isn’t strong enough if you remove the support columns, so they would put in a (much) bigger/stronger beam?
It was a two part beam, with the joint resting on the support column in the middle of the basement. Not sure why it is that way, maybe it was for ease of transportation or putting it into the house? But it isn’t a single beam, two that were welded together.
Really nothing wrong with the beam, it just would have to be replaced with a single continuous beam if we want to remove the support column in the middle of the future room.
Get rid of it and put in a laminated engineered support beam. It really isn’t as scary and complicated as it sounds. You will be much happier with the finished product.
Remove it and see if he can recess the new beam up into the ceiling creating a flat ceiling in the basement. There may be a ton of extra work involved if he has to cut the floor joists to recess the beam but if you can have a flat ceiling it may be worth it. I dream of flat ceilings in basements every night. Mine is not.
Get a detailed estimate for both scenarios and make sure he has supported houses before while replacing beams or you may have some cracked sheet rock or worse up in the house.
An engineered wood beam is more fire resistant than a steel beam if that is something you care about.
Don’t ever trust a contractor. I know. I play one in real life. Ask a million ? And DO NOT GIVE HIM ALL THE MONEY AFTER THE JOB IS DONE!!!
Wait 10- 30 days to give him the remaining balance. This will give you a chance to “see” any problems that might pop up after he’s done.
He does three 1/3 amount payments, and the final one comes after the punchlist is complete. That’s not exactly 30 days after the project is done, but I think will allow for some time for things to shake out on their work and me to talk and inspect. I plan on near daily inspections while they are doing the work, and have a couple of neighbors who are smart and nosy and they’ll surely be popping in to take a look and ask questions.
I don’t think there’s a chance of a flat ceiling, the way things are laid out it’ll have to be a beam that sticks down. There were some design/layout options that would have hid it more, but we went with what is most functional for us. There will be basically a single bulkhead as the main HVAC line is to be replaced with a flatter and wider duct, and we’ll located it right by the beam to condense the impact.
Our houses are interesting in this neighborhood. Some houses have an extra layer or two of brick in the basement, I seem to have the shortest clearance of any of the houses. Good thing I’m short…
A structural engineer should be consulted but it may be possible to grind down the weld joint and weld on 2 new flitch plates to the existing beam (one on each side). Depending on the span, the two plates may very well be sufficient to carry the load.
You could also put in temperary supports on each side of the beam, remove the beam and replace with a new one. The method could cause some movement when the beam is removed but if properly supported, it should be minimal.
If the beams not rusted you could do that. It would be way cheaper. Under normal conditions in your basement a steel beam really shouldn’t rust that much where it would need replacement.
Ahhh, a flinch plate guy heh? ( Cue Tim Allen doing his ape routine ) We installed a 78’L x 36"H “I” beam that supported a roof right before a big snow storm one winter. It was up high and we had to put two pieces together because we couldn’t find a beam that long and that high off the shelf. We had to make a massive flinch plate. I had a family friend was is a master welder, weld the whole thing together after we bolted the shit out of it. It was 4 degrees out and we worked for 28 hours straight to git er done. It was fun. It was cold. The check we got a few weeks later was warm.