Need help with support beam size

[PWC Repair]

I'm planning and figuring supplies to help my son build his house. My head hurts looking at charts for glu-lam or lvl support beams. I just can't make sense out of the charts. upstairs is the master bedroom. The green lines represent 13ft long 2.5x12 I joists on 12" centers. The red line will need to be a beam which will be supported at the end wall and another wall 16ft span (blue lines). Hoping we can use something less than 12" tall for headroom but I just don't know. What say ye fellows in the know?

 

[chinboys]

You should seek the solution from a structural engineer who can calculate the loads and be able to spec out the beam based on the span.
You also need to account for shear as result of side movement.

The home insurance company may void the coverage if the design doesn't have a stamp from the above should something happen as result of non approved design.
Also, your your building inspection department won't approve of the permit without professional licensed stamped plans.

 

[PWC Repair]

LOL!!! Building inspections......nobody around here knows what that means! That's why we're going to do it. At least that way I know it will be square, level, and plumb. You'd have nightmares if you saw the way ACTUAL CONTRACTORS are doing things around here. Like recently when we had very heavy rains and a few creeks ran WAY out of their banks. This house got washed off it's foundation! Please note several of the top concrete blocks still attached to the house.........hmmm, yep, that's the way things get done around here. No thanks!

Floods inundate Marion County - Baxter Bulletin

A series of training thunderstorms during the overnight hours Wednesday morning brought torrential downpours to the Twin Lakes Area and caused devastation flash flooding to Flippin and Yellville in Marion County.

www.baxterbulletin.com

 

[jack stand]

I've had a similar situation where I used a pair of deeper LVL'S holding the bottom flush with the floor joists (now the ceiling), and let the paired up 1 3/4"x18" lvl's run above the floor level, in the wall.
It's added depth was hidden in the wall and the floor joist rested in hangars.

 

[mike93lx]

The place you are buying your beam from may be able to offer some engineering

 

[PCustoms]

How long is the beam?

 

[acer66]

The place you are buying your beam from may be able to offer some engineering

This, when I bought mine a in house engineer calculated everything and I got a printout for the inspection or in your case piece of mind.

 

[andyvh1959]

Ha, that view of the house pushed off it's foundation. Where the blocks are still attached to the framing is obviously where the anchor rods where in the block. But also obviously the anchor rods were not fully/properly set into the foundation.

Friend of mine moved from Appleton WI down to Altanta GA, and started his own handyman/repair/framing business. With no advertising he cannot keep up with the work. He quotes the job, gets it done right per code, gets it done on the quoted timetable, and charges $125 an hour. He has to hire people to work with him, and many don't meet his standards for work ethic and capability.

 

[PWC Repair]

I've had a similar situation where I used a pair of deeper LVL'S holding the bottom flush with the floor joists (now the ceiling), and let the paired up 1 3/4"x18" lvl's run above the floor level, in the wall.
It's added depth was hidden in the wall and the floor joist rested in hangars.

I hadn't thought about that. Thanks

The place you are buying your beam from may be able to offer some engineering

That would mean somebody that knows something would have to work there..............not happening around here.

How long is the beam?

Beam will span 16ft holding up a bedroom.

 

[PWC Repair]

Guys, I can't stress this enough.......NOBODY is building anything correctly around here. The guys that have been in business for 30 years around here doing concrete wanted to know why my footer was so big (24x24) and wanted to know why I wanted 4 bars tied in a square inside the footer!! Then I had to tell them to bend it around the corners and up the stepped areas and not just leave the ends meeting up. They had never done it like that before!!!

 

[mike93lx]

That would mean somebody that knows something would have to work there..............not happening around here.

I feel like this is just an assumption... Getting engineering/design is a common part of buying these engineered products. If they don't have someone on staff, I bet their supplier can help as these products are not just 2x. Have you talked to whomever you are planning to buy this beam from?

"around here" is used far too much. Everyone ***** at driving around here, every contractor has their head up their *** around here, no one wants to work around here...

 

[sjvicker]

I'm interested in what you come up with. I was curious so I found a span chart and started playing in with your data and came up with a 5.5"x33" beam which seems way off for a 16' span that only holds 6.5' of room depth.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Will the beam support only the bedroom, or will it support the roof load, too? Will the roof load be cantilevered beyond the beam?
And why are the bedroom joists so gigantic and often?

 

[PWC Repair]

I feel like this is just an assumption... Getting engineering/design is a common part of buying these engineered products. If they don't have someone on staff, I bet their supplier can help as these products are not just 2x. Have you talked to whomever you are planning to buy this beam from?

I grew up here. We are 100 miles any direction from a town larger than 13,000 people. Most of the folks here learned how to do things from the older folks, who learned from older uneducated folks, etc. But talking to the supplier is a good idea. Thanks.

I'm interested in what you come up with. I was curious so I found a span chart and started playing in with your data and came up with a 5.5"x33" beam which seems way off for a 16' span that only holds 6.5' of room depth.

I know, I was also seeing these massive beams and thinking that surely I'm not understanding the chart.

Will the beam support only the bedroom, or will it support the roof load, too? Will the roof load be cantilevered beyond the beam?
And why are the bedroom joists so gigantic and often?

The roof IS cantilevered a bit beyond the beam and the peak is further into the bedroom. I'm no engineer but I would assume that means it will be holding much of the roof load as well. Trying to do the math and understand the charts has me thinking total load will be around 80ish pounds per square foot. BUT....the exterior wall will be holding 1/2 of that right? As for the joists, I tend to overbuild my projects and 16" on center I'm sure would be fine BUT since I'll be cutting holes and running some ductwork It's not that much more money to put them 12" on center and not worry about a bouncy floor.

 

[PWC Repair]

It looks to me like a 3.5x9.5 LVL will be plenty sufficient for this. But I will see if I can get an e-mail answered.

 

[mike93lx]

I joists would typically be done at 19.2" centers. 12 is pretty wild.

 

[PWC Repair]

I joists would typically be done at 19.2" centers. 12 is pretty wild.

Well, according to the charts I COULD go 19.2"........but 16" on center will keep deflection at a minimum so with 12" I don't figure on having ANY deflection. I'd rather overbuild than to go with code minimums........that is, if it mattered here anyway! But, we may end up with 16" spacing we'll see.

 

[mike93lx]

Well, according to the charts I COULD go 19.2"........but 16" on center will keep deflection at a minimum so with 12" I don't figure on having ANY deflection. I'd rather overbuild than to go with code minimums........that is, if it mattered here anyway! But, we may end up with 16" spacing we'll see.

More hangers, more nails, more opportunity to have them misaligned. I'm not advocating bare minimum, but you aren't going to have a trampoline with 19.2OC

I love a solid floor, but it's a bedroom. The right subfloor makes a big difference too