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February 09, 2006
Fifteen tons and what do you get...
My house was built with a fourteen inch wood beam running into the foundation wall at the front and back of the building and columns every few feet to help distribute the load. All of the centerline columns on each floor carried their load downward onto this beam. Over the years, the combination of water damage and a mean termite infestation made this beam sag like a hollywood starlet sans botox. By the time I came into the buildings' life, the center of each floor had sagged downwards by eight to twelve inches. If you walked through the building, you couldn't help but notice the downward slope and the sagging floors, but until we put a measuring tape to a level line we had no idea how far it had dropped.
My architect and structural engineer determined that the best way to reinforce the existing building would be with a significant amount of steel i-beams carrying the floor loads out to steel lolly columns that run into separate concrete footings. I expressed an interest in the floors being a good deal stronger than they needed to be, as I want to make this building last a few hundered years more without any problems. When all was said and done, the 30,000 pounds (15 tons!) of steel was delivered to my house, and has been sitting outside rusting while we get everything aligned for its usage. |
Posted by shahnandersen at February 9, 2006 01:30 PM
dude !!
i drove by and saw the outside today for the first time . are you sure your gonna be able to salvage that building ?
Posted by: electricgreek1 at February 10, 2006 03:20 PM
More pictures please!
I (we?) would have love to see pictures of the interior, showing the floors pitching towards the center.
Actually, I'd love to get more regular updates on your project. Its not often that such a project happens so I'm very curious!
Oh and yes I believe you can do it!
Posted by: victor at February 10, 2006 07:55 PM
Curious how much you paid for the steel....
Posted by: xxx at February 12, 2006 05:03 AM
The price of the 30,000 pounds of steel was about $19,000. It will most likely cost more than that for the labor to put it into place. I knew we were going to use steel to reinforce the structure from the outset, and it was budgeted for in the renovation budget.
Posted by: Shahn Andersen at February 12, 2006 10:48 AM
I do not have all the information but all that iron seems excessive - unless you are going for an open floor plan using only the shell of the house.
You need to gut the building anyway to install the iron - interior walls can be load bearing walls if you keep the original floor plan - timber 2x4 construction has worked for over 100yrs...
I would use steel in the basement/1st floor if the arches are shot and/or you have water infiltration.
Posted by: Luke C at February 14, 2006 01:34 PM
There were no arches. There were only brick columns holding up the wood beam that rotted away. We had to gut the building either way because most of the floor joists were rotten. I also wanted overkill as far as structural stability was concerned, and that meant taking as much weight as possible off of the walls. When all is said and done, the floor plan will be partially open.
Posted by: Shahn Andersen at February 14, 2006 02:53 PM
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