We will be taking out a load-bearing wall and installing a steel beam. We have a couple of questions:
1. Do we need to secure the beam into the pad stones, or will it's sheer weight be sufficient to prevent if from ever slipping off the wall?
2. How do we box the beam in? Is the usual process to fix timber studwork to the beam, if so, how do we attach this to the beam?
3. Do we rest the upstairs floor joists onto the steel beam, or lay a timber 'wall plate' on top of the steel beam for the floor joists to then screw into?
ps. Building Control will be involved for this job and we have had an engineer specify the size of beam.
TMess wrote:We will be taking out a load-bearing wall and installing a steel beam. We have a couple of questions:
1. Do we need to secure the beam into the pad stones, or will it's sheer weight be sufficient to prevent if from ever slipping off the wall?
I have seen them bolted down in some situations but if this is a fairly standard house and there is weight on top of the beam then gravity is usually sufficient.
2. How do we box the beam in? Is the usual process to fix timber studwork to the beam, if so, how do we attach this to the beam?
This is easy with practice but more difficult for a novice, assuming it's an RSJ, measure very carefully the vertical height inside the beam and cut noggins to fit, you may have to shape the top and bottom slightly, you may have to remove the rear corners, you should have to drive them in with a club hammer - get them right and they'll never come out again - with the correct size timber they will be flush with the face of the beam, the simplest thing to do then is fix horizontal battens to the top and bottom of the noggins which now gives you a fix for p/b underneath and on the face. A chop saw is your best friend for this job.
3. Do we rest the upstairs floor joists onto the steel beam, or lay a timber 'wall plate' on top of the steel beam for the floor joists to then screw into?
The actual position of the beam would usually be shown on your drawings, but you can fit joists in the web or sit them on top (with full bearing) or fit a ledger plate in the web and then put the joists on jiffy hangers, or any other way you can think of really.
ps. Building Control will be involved for this job and we have had an engineer specify the size of beam.
you wont need to bolt the steel down if you have weight above it, you will need to find out where the beam sits in relation weather you will need a plate above or not.
Cut 50mm x 50mm timber slightly bigger than the flange then hit them in tight with a lump hammer.
4. In terms of getting the floor joists tight on the beam, would you wedge underneath the beam where it is supported on the wall (and bring the entire beam up off the brickwork and flush to the joists), or wedge any gaps between the floor joists and the beam?
5. Some people seem to use steel plates/offcuts, others use slate as wedges. Which is best in terms of easiest to get hold of and cheapest?
EDIT: Oh, and if we do end up fitting a ledger plate and joist hangers within the web. Does the ledger plate need to be fixed (bolted) into the beam? Or can it just rest there?
Another query that popped into my head. Do most people bed the padstones on mortar, and wait until the following day before installing a beam of this size to prevent its weight from squeezing all of the mortar out whilst it's slid in and spacers are hammered inbetween everything?
Or get everything done in one day and keep all of the props (and some additional props under the beam) in place for 2 or so days?
1) Your structural engineer will specify any details for fixing, occasionally, resin bolts into the padstone, but if its just a straight beam, rested on the padstone, and built into the wall tends to be the way....
2) Cut suitably sized bits of timber that are a tight fit between the flanges (top and bottom bits) Cut on a slight angle so they start going in easy, but end up tight fitting.
Occasionally, builders ask for holes to be drilled, so a timber can get bolted into the web (verticle bit) so they can fix to that wherever....more often or not though, this is so joists can be fixed to it.
3) As above, sometimes a timber is bolted into the web so joists can be fitted to that....of on top- but that tends to be more for roof steels.
4) I gather the above joists are existing.... Pack up the beam so its level, with steel shims on the pads. Thn use more packs under the joists if reuired.
5) We always use steel, but thats because we are a steel firm.... its easier to cut steel than it is to cut slate ;)
Steel packs can be supplied in lots of different thicknesses, so a finer adjustment is possible, or less pieces of packing required.
If fitting a beam, i tend to take a selection of 2,3,5,8,10mm packs.
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