Attached is a free graphic showing a LVL attic beam supporting ceiling joists over a clear span with joist hangers. The hangers alternate front to back on every other joist to balance the load on the beam. Nails are not shown in the hangers to save what’s left of my vision. You may see hurricane clips used instead of joist hangers, but that will depend on the ceiling joist loading, especially if there are roof braces from the roof rafters down to the ceiling joists.
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Nice Randy.
And I am assumming this is something that would be done when the framing is still exposed and a clear opening for a bearing wall has been established?
Marcel, this can be part of new construction or a solution for a bearing wall removal. I have designed four of these in the past six weeks for a bearing wall removal. The main obstacle is finding a way to get the beams into the attic. Sometimes getting them through a gable end vent is an option. Another option is to build a homemade wood truss in the attic, something like a wood floor truss but orient the 2x member vertical like an engineered truss. However the ends if the beam has to be supported by a stud wall or column. The load has to be transferred to the ground or the basement floor. The most difficult method is to add temporary walls to support the ceiling joists then cut a slot in the ceiling then lifting the beam in place and attach the joists with face mounted joist hangers. This can push the outer walls out unless you install some permanent raised rafter ties or install some type of temporary exterior wall bracing.
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If you have drywall on the ceiling, that is the way to go. Since removing the bearing wall will leave a slot with no drywall anyways, you just cut the drwywall wider enough to do the work and install the beam through the cut joist like you said. You have to patch the drywall anyways. The exterior walls won’t go anywhere, if you install a temporary rafter tie in the attic.
I have built an attic truss before to span the opening also which would be the easier way to do it.
If you have exposed framing, it is not a problem to get the beam up there.
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Fairly common on deep flat roofs. Gusset plates give rigidity. Only seen this type of roof truss in old century buildings.
My first boss used to make these things back in the day…though sometimes they looked like a fink truss…to support the load over the garage. If done correctly they work quite well but after a while builders became nervous because they said carpenters were not engineers and so were not qualified to build a truss…so they started giving us LVL’s, etc. instead…
Thank you Randy!
Nice graphic Randy!!
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Randy, thanks for the detail informantion.
This is a great graphic I can flash to customers as they ask why they can’t remove a load bearing wall and trying to explain it to them with words about installing a beam in the attic space so they can. Thanks for another great graphic!!! You are the bomb Randy!!!
I vote Randy Mayo for InterNACHI member of the year. Where do I go to nominate him officially?
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except that Randy was a previous winner and not eligible again.
We had to cut a hole through the roof once and then patch up the roof. Messy but not as hard as it sounds although the new shingles looked like a patch.
On another house, we put in a 24’ flitch beam. That one was below the ceiling joists. We cut a hole through the wall and 30 guys from the homeowner’s church muscled the beam in while the architect and I supervised. Nice!
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