Replacing a wooden beam with a steel one.

[cet]

In my basement I have 2 9.5" x 2" engineered beams supporting the floor joists. They are supported by the foundation on one side, a post on the other side and another post in the middle. I want to get rid of the middle post by either adding more engineered beams or replacing the wooden beams with a steel one.

Does anyone have any experience with/recommendations any companies that I can get some quotes from?

Thanks

[sillysod]

I did this myself in my new house. Pulled out the laminate beam and put in a giant steel I-Beam.

It was a little bit of work and I had to hide it from the builder after but well worth it when it was all done.

I don't remember what size it was but it is huge (3 teleposts wide on each side). I doubled the size that we calculated. Been 3 years now and not a single crack in the drywall anywhere.

Putting it in is a lot of work though. I put in temp lam-beams on either side first, jacked it with teleposts and then brought in a jig I made with wheels that I could use to wheel it into place from the window because it was like 750+ lbs.

[cet]

Nice job on doing it yourself.

This is one of those things that I am sure I could do myself but just don't really want to take any chances.

I did some preliminary calculations and am pretty sure a W250x33 would do the job. It's basically 10" deep by 6" wide and 3 need a 17' length.

You must have used one big assed beam to be 750lbs as the one I'm thinking of using is only 250lbs. Where did you get the beam by the way?

[510-Trevor]

The last residence that I detailed steel for was a reno being constructed by Ronalco Construction. Strongback Construction is another company that I have done work for in the past.

[sillysod]

I think from Prudential. We buy a lot of steel at work so I just tacked it onto an order.
It's huge, but it spans the entire length of the house and had 2 sets of double posts in the middle before. I pulled all that out and now it does a 30' span.

I think it is 22" deep or something, don't remember it was 3+ years ago.

Sureway Metals should be able to get you an I-Beam no problem. Other place to try is Blackfoot metals. Sometimes they get scrap ones and there is nothing wrong with it just needs paint. You can pick those up for a few cents a pound.

[topmade]

Kind of related question, but can you build a new house and do this as an upgrade? I'd love to get rid of the posts if we build a new house.

[cet]

Originally posted by 510-Trevor
The last residence that I detailed steel for was a reno being constructed by Ronalco Construction. Strongback Construction is another company that I have done work for in the past.
Thanks I will check them out.


Originally posted by sillysod
I think from Prudential. We buy a lot of steel at work so I just tacked it onto an order.
It's huge, but it spans the entire length of the house and had 2 sets of double posts in the middle before. I pulled all that out and now it does a 30' span.

I think it is 22" deep or something, don't remember it was 3+ years ago.

Sureway Metals should be able to get you an I-Beam no problem. Other place to try is Blackfoot metals. Sometimes they get scrap ones and there is nothing wrong with it just needs paint. You can pick those up for a few cents a pound.

Awesome, thanks, Ill check them out for the beam.



Originally posted by topmade
Kind of related question, but can you build a new house and do this as an upgrade? I'd love to get rid of the posts if we build a new house.

Yeah you should be easily able to. Just take a look at the foundation plans and see where your posts are. If you think they are in a bad spot or want to just open up the basement let the builder know.
My house is only a couple of years old. When I was going through the plans the thought briefly passed through my mind to do it then. I thought I would leave it as it was on the plans and deal with it when I was developing the basement. I'm kicking myself for not doing it then as it probably would have only cost a couple hundred bucks.

[sr20s14zenki]

The easiest way to do a clear span in a basement, is the same way we just did it in a guy's basement in airdrie. Two C channels back to back, with the existing beam in the middle. Support one end on foundation, and support other end wherever necissary or hideable, in his case, we put two teleposts in a different location that he was going to build a wall in anyways. You will want 3/4" grade 8 ready rod with nuts and washers every 6-8", or maybe even 8-10 inches, i forget, going thru the beam, holding the two steel pieces together. If you want more information, let me know. We are a CWB certified shop, and have a retained engineer, im sure we could come up with something.

[AndyL]

Depends on the builders - I'd expect for one of the big outfits like jayman/etc - this would be a stupid expensive upgrade - don't forget builders like their markup :) And this isn't something they'd do very often

Russell metal for the steel.

W250x33 sounds undersized to me - what numbers did you use to calculate that?

[autosm]

Be aware that your footings for your current teleposts may not be up to the task of supporting a beam after removing 1-2 original support posts. Incase you did not know your teleposts don't sit on the basement floor. Could be the same for the foundation side of the beam.

To be done properly the footings may have to be upgraded to support the extra load being transferred to the remaining supports when eliminating posts.

Might spell major issues for a 2 story house.

I would bet most of the time this is done is without inspection/ permits?