Replacing center beam - jack or no jack?
Hi, Is there anyone with experience of having their supporting beam replaced, that can comment on there experience or offer opinion on the need to jack the house when supporting the beam? We are having our old, split, rotting oak beam replaced with a steel beam and posts to support our house. My understanding, from…
Hi,
Is there anyone with experience of having their supporting beam replaced, that can comment on there experience or offer opinion on the need to jack the house when supporting the beam?
We are having our old, split, rotting oak beam replaced with a steel beam and posts to support our house. My understanding, from every person we got quotes from, was that the process was, jack up the house with supports, remove the old beam then insert the new beam. Remove jacks once new steel beam and posts in place.
The guy we went with, says we don’t need to jack the house, that he can just remove the beam and then put the new steel beam in. We are very concerned about this though he swears it will not be a problem and he has done countless houses in this manner.
Advice greatly appreciated!!!
The only way that you can safely remove the header without supporting it is if you don’t really need it in the first place. Unless you have unusually large joists or an unusually narrow house, you’re going to need something to support the span. It’s probably not going to come crashing down around you, but it’s going to bend, creating cracks all the way up through the house. You need to have some sort of temporary support while the header is removed.
Just don’t do it. This guy doesn’t know what he’s doing. You may not have sagging floors now, but you will when he’s done.
Heck….how much could it cost to install 4 or 5 temporary lolly columns to support the bldg while the rotted beam is removed and replaced? What do u tell the insurance company if the bldg collapses on 3-4 workers in the basement? You shouldn’t even be asking this question!!!
How much time/money would it take to build a temporary wall running parrallel to the one being removed? If he does this all the time he will have the materials in storage.
Anonymous 8:56am has, like the other responders, the right idea but is way off in his assessment of the weight being borne by the beam. Using a 45′ 0″ x 20′ 0″ floor plate, times four floors, times 200#/SF, times 50% (only about half the house’s weight is carried by the center wall, the remainder being carried by the two party walls) the beam is carrying “only” 180 tons. I sure hope that the OP changes his “guy we went with” ’cause if he doesn’t he’s gonna be, at best, homeless.
I am the original poster. To clarify, I do not mean ‘jack up’ in terms of pushing up the floors to even out. We do not have sagging floors. I assumed he would put in supporting joists to support the house while the beam gets removed and replaced.
He says he will not need to do this.
Here’s an analogy:
That’s kind of similar to a dentist saying he’s going to knock out all your teeth, polish them up, then pop them back in… all in the process of fixing them so you don’t end up with dentures.
Oh yeah… and without anaesthesia.
Let me get this straight:
Your beam is rotting so you’re having it replaced, ostensibly so there is something which can better support the 3000 tons it weights.
This guy, wants to completely remove all support from the central, load supporting feature of your house, completely remove the beam SO THERE IS NOTHING SUPPORTING THE 3000 TONS WHICH YOU LOVINGLY CALL YOUR HOME then replace it with a nice steel beam better capable of supporting the weight.
What am I missing here? You are concerned about the ability of the compromised girder to effectively support your house, so in the process you’re going to have ALL support removed.
What I need help understanding is:
A) Does your contractor have some incurable disease, 5 kids to support and a massive life insurance policy, or B) does he just have a regular, old fashioned deathwish, or C) is he just plain stupid? I can’t figure it out. I know it’s one of the 3 options.
A B or C?
Is your house sagging? Why would you need to jack it up if it isn’t? Sometimes homes need to be jacked and sometimes they don’t. The new beam is for support so it doesn’t sag and need jacking in the future.
I am doing this on my own house right now, and would not consider doing it without jacking up the house.