Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 9/22/2011

Question
older bungalow with a steel i beam running down the center, there is 2 support poles for the beam.

i would like to move one of the poles 2'6" to open the room up a bit.

the beam is 30 feet long and is a 6 inch  by 6 inch beam. supported by the foundation on one end and a brick support post on the other end. the poles are about 10' from the ends, so more or less equally spaced along the length. the house is older and the roof is stick frame.

Answer
Hi cam, you can probably make such a move without any major diverse consequences.  The only downside I see is that the existing post is sitting on a thickened footing underneath the slab.  By moving the post you are moving it from the center of that footing and over just the slab thickness which is probably only 4" thick  
Will the slab support the concentrated load this far from the existing footing? Most likely since the footing is also supporting the slab.  I always recommend that a structural engineer be consulted prior to moving any structural elements and worst case scenario you might be required to cut out a 2'x2 section of the slab and dig it down another 8" to provide another footing to imitate what you probably have existing.  I hope this info helps please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely Bruce Johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com