Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 1/12/2009

Question
Hi,
I am looking to buy a small house built on brick piers, its built about 8 foot off the ground. If I buy it I would want to extend under the house which would involve removing all the piers in the center but leaving the the ones around the edges. Obviously I would need to reinforce the floor with a steel structure or something - this is where the question comes,
Is this possible, if so, how difficult or expensive do you think it would be - the house has 3 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, small kitchen and living area.

Answer
Hi Andrew, the size of your floor joists will determine how many beams you need to add to support the living space above.  The span from where you can or want to put new supporting posts will determine how large of beams you need. If you go to your search engine and type in "span tables for steel beams" you will get several websites that have information as to how big of a beam will be needed for what span.

As far as cost for this goes it would depend on how large the house is and as I mentioned above, how far the beams will have to span before you support them. I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com