Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 01, 2020 8:57 pm Hello everyone We have a slight but noticeable slope in the floorboards in one corner of our 70's high-set brick house (upstairs). It been like this since we moved in 4 yrs ago and doesn't seem to have got any worse. We are about to do some minor renos in the "utility room" underneath the house and have just completed the strip-out. With the beam under the sloping floor now exposed, we have found it is sagging by around ~20mm (oddly not at the mid-section, but around 2/3 of the way along). The timber beam is approx 70mm wide, 160mm high and around 3600m between posts/supports. A few questions... 1) I've done a bit of Googling (dangerous I know), but it would look like we get this (slowly) jacked backup up and braced with steel plates. Is this accurate? 2) What trade professional would best help us remediate this issue? 3) Anything we should be aware of before going down this path? Photo below (ignore the framing on the beam - was used to make wall level with the wide brick post at the far end): Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Many thanks for any advice or guidance, Stew Re: Bracing timber beam under house 2Feb 02, 2020 9:53 am HopHead we have found it is sagging by around ~20mm (oddly not at the mid-section, but around 2/3 of the way along). Span/180 = 3600/180 =20mm isn't acceptable under the codes Max Deflection doesn't always occur mid span, there could be a point load 2/3rds along the span? HopHead The timber beam is approx 70mm wide, 160mm high and around 3600m between posts/supports. It is much more efficient when designing to increase the beams depth than wdith b*d^3/12 HopHead 1) I've done a bit of Googling (dangerous I know), but it would look like we get this (slowly) jacked backup up and braced with steel plates. Is this accurate? LOL, Google will never replace real Engineers OT Stiffening the beam is one way HopHead 2) What trade professional would best help us remediate this issue? Any structural work & changes require engineering certification, please check with your local Council Building Department If the job was correctly checked and certified you wouldn't be in this predicament now.. that's the logic HopHead 3) Anything we should be aware of before going down this path? Yes it need to be physically inspected by an Engineer..photos can only take you so far..read on HopHead Photo below (ignore the framing on the beam - was used to make wall level with the wide brick post at the far end): Correct, I have ignored the beam frame out But I wouldn't ignore the stud walls supporting the joists? Site visits highlight a multitude of other issues cheers Chris Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Bracing timber beam under house 3Feb 02, 2020 10:27 am StructuralBIMGuy HopHead we have found it is sagging by around ~20mm (oddly not at the mid-section, but around 2/3 of the way along). Span/180 = 3600/180 =20mm isn't acceptable under the codes Max Deflection doesn't always occur mid span, there could be a point load 2/3rds along the span? HopHead The timber beam is approx 70mm wide, 160mm high and around 3600m between posts/supports. It is much more efficient when designing to increase the beams depth than wdith b*d^3/12 HopHead 1) I've done a bit of Googling (dangerous I know), but it would look like we get this (slowly) jacked backup up and braced with steel plates. Is this accurate? LOL, Google will never replace real Engineers OT Stiffening the beam is one way HopHead 2) What trade professional would best help us remediate this issue? Any structural work & changes require engineering certification, please check with your local Council Building Department If the job was correctly checked and certified you wouldn't be in this predicament now.. that's the logic HopHead 3) Anything we should be aware of before going down this path? Yes it need to be physically inspected by an Engineer..photos can only take you so far..read on HopHead Photo below (ignore the framing on the beam - was used to make wall level with the wide brick post at the far end): Correct, I have ignored the beam frame out But I wouldn't ignore the stud walls supporting the joists? Site visits highlight a multitude of other issues cheers Chris Thanks for the reply Chris Keep in mind this is the original beam from ~50 yrs ago, would it have been against code back then? I'm happy to get the correct trade involved in getting this fixed, but given it is the original structure, I wouldn't imagine Council would need to get involved if we go down the path of bracing/stiffening? Also I'm not sure what you mean about the stud wall supporting joists? All joists are firmly sitting on a beam. Re: Bracing timber beam under house 4Feb 03, 2020 8:44 am HopHead I'm happy to get the correct trade involved in getting this fixed, but given it is the original structure, I wouldn't imagine Council would need to get involved if we go down the path of bracing/stiffening? Also I'm not sure what you mean about the stud wall supporting joists? All joists are firmly sitting on a beam. Correct, the council will ask you to engage a private Building Surveyor (BS) as they don't always inspect retrospective approvals or similar. The BS checks the build against the NCC if the construction is as per the codes it is compliant no further action is taken, if not, it's non compliant and he will advise you to engage a Structural Engineer and then certify the engineers report, details or rectification,etc. In WA that's $300+ for the BS stamp and $300 for the engineer site visit.. OT you can check the codes yourself here National Construction Codes anything not in the codes I suggest you talk to an engineer and get his signature/stamp. Cheers Chris Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Hi all, Not sure if this is a good place for this question but I guess we'll find out! I'm a novice, building a modular room inside my garage/shed and need to create… 0 1448 Hello everyone, After some suggestions and ideas about how to put a concrete path around the drop edge beam area on our new build. We are required to have a concrete path… 0 11021 |