Looking for structural engineer or architect to help with house project i am about to take on. Is anyone on here one?
I am not…but I know quite a few. What are you looking for? What are you willing to pay?
I basically need someone to come to my house for less then a hour to tell me what size LVL’s i need to support my second floor and walk up attic. The sapn could be 25’ or 30’ depending on where I put it. I have to pull my ceilings down to see where the 2nd floor floor joists are sistered. I am willing to pay, I am thinking this is like a side project type of thing.
would it be 25-30’ CLEAR span, or will you be able to have some posts or rest on other walls?
Depending on where i put the beam, I have a bump out in my kitchen it would be 25-30’ clear across, I could do two 15’ with a center post but would rather not if possible. I can get some pics. Most likely 30’. its supporting a second floor, finished walk in attic and a hip roof with two dormers. I dont feel safe winging this remodel, i ant an expert opinion. i will pay to have it assessed properly.
I may be wrong but you might be looking at steel if it’s a clear span.
even with steel it’s going to be huge for that big of a span. 8" I-beam is only good for about 16’…if you have anything less than 8’ ceilings you’ll be pretty hard pressed to clear span it with ANY material.
A couple years ago we clear spanned a W21 over approx. 27’ but it had some monster floor and roof loads on it. We set it up as a flush beam from the ceiling below and it was incorporated into the second floor wall so you would never even know it was there.
based on your description it sounds like you are essentially attempting to clear span entirely across the house at some point where you believe there is an existing load bearing wall on the first and second floors supporting the second floor and attic respectively. if that is the case you are going to be supporting approximately half of all of the load for the 2 floors- assuming a relatively rectangular shape for the area in question. that is quite a bit of load over a substantial distance and i would say you are definitely in the running for a steel beam. that said the load isn’t going to really be what is driving your decision but more likely the stiffness of the beam. with that kind of span the beam is going to tend to “bounce” unless it is made of a very heavy (thick) section or a taller section than it would need to be in order to simply support the load. with the addition of a column or two somewhere within the span you can manage the stiffness issue much more easily and greatly reduce the weight and depth of the beam required. although where ever that column(s) ends up, you would most likely need another column and new footing directly below it in the basement to carry the load all the way down to the ground.
here is a picture of my basement…not exactly the kind of condition you are talking about but it gives you a sense of how big beams can get supporting residential floor load. the beams are spanning ~28’-0" clear and are W18’s spaced about 6’-0" apart. it definitely was not the most efficient use of steel to accomplish the goal of a column free basement. but for the cost of all of the W18’s it was probably cheaper than a single 60’ long W36 and digging the basement 18" deeper to maintain the clear height below the beams…
↑ Fuck, yeah I have been reading up on this. My ceilings are 8’ 11" so i might have to go flush with the second floor. I have a P.E. coming in a few days to tell me what I need.
there shouldn’t be any issue with tucking the top flange of the beam right up against the floor and then support the joists off of the bottom flange…that will at least allow you to bury some of the beam depth within the depth of the existing joints.
Still looking for a P.E. the guy I had lined up stiffed. Please let me know.