Building Homes or Extensions/celing beam

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Expert: - 9/23/2008


Question

ceiling beam

I would like to replace a load bearing wall with a 13 ft glue lam beam.  What height(thickness) should the beam be?  Also, one end of the beam will be supported by notching a cutout in a masonry wall.  Is there a correct/incorrect way of installing the beam with that in mind?  How do I brace the ceiling while doing all of this?

Answer
Hi Mary, you can probably get a glue lam beam or LVL to make that span in a 4x10 or 12, or in LVL 3 1/2 x 9 or 11.  Contact your local truss company or timber manufacturer and they can design the beam to meet your requirements.  Simpson makes some good wood to concrete connectors to meet any uplift requirements.

Go to Simpson Strongtie website and you can download their catalog and find a connector that will suit your need perfectly.   If your beam is to bear directly on masonry then you need to put something under it like a metal flashing or at least a piece of 90# felt to separate the wood from the masonry.
As far as bracing goes, you basically shore up the ceiling on both sides of the wall you are removing.  Allow yourself enough room to work on the wall.  A simple shoring method is to screw a 2x4 flat to the ceiling and then cut studs to jam up under that plate.  Without actually seeing how the structure is built I have to be generic in my comments.  

If your ceiling joists or floor joists that bear on the wall you are removing over lap each other you might be able to go to the furthest end of the joist and only support this point.  If the joists break on the wall then you will need to support the joists on both sides of the new beam.. Have all your stuff ready to go before removing the wall so that you can be in and out without allowing the existing structure to have a chance to move. I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com

Bruce E. Johnson

Expertise

I can answer any construction related question in regards to carpentry, concrete, drywall, masonry, structural elements of any type of building, residential or commercial. Interior or exterior.

Experience

Custom Commercial and residential buildings. Churches, theaters, schools and auditoriums. Most recently I am working with the Catholic Church on several design build committees. I have a website related to scheduling and project supervision. Although my expertise is more related to multimillion dollar commercial, educational and theatrical projects my generous credentials in residential and remodelling construction make me a viable source of information regarding all forms of building questions.

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