Support... or lack thereof

Glad its not my basement renovation. Looks like something out of Holmes on Homes!

A post supported beam can be replaced by a properly supported and framed bearing wall. But a continuous strip footing or thickened slab section is usually needed below the bearing wall. Bearing walls on typically thin basement slabs can crack and settle.

JMO

Yes they can but, since the beam was spanned to the post to begin with and the studs on either side are doing the post’s job, it is unlikely in this case. :wink:

I disagree,

Those two 2 X 4 are not providing proper support and neither is that wood frame wall without a proper full length footing under, beside who knows how many floors its supporting…

It would be much easier to re-install that missing telepost section.

Unless there was addtional protection provied I would be concerned that the threads would rub against the cable and eventually wear through it. We do not know the vibrations loads of the beam.

Agreed, but that is easily accomplished by securing the NM or taping the screw threads. :smiley:

And you’re welcome to do that…aren’t opinions great?:wink:

But tell me this, if the post had an appropriate footing, why don’t the two studs on either side?

Two 2x4 studs just don’t add up to a steel column in terms of support capacity. So for an HI that would be a defect unless determined otherwise by a design professional.

True enough but, with what the picture shows, I wouldn’t call what’s holding up that beam a defect.

The spaced two 2X4 is not a proper replacement for that metal column, it could buckle under pressure.

With what is pictured, I still wouldn’t call what’s holding up that beam a defect.

But feel free to call it out if you believe you can back up your reporting.

Not to be argumentative…just curious…

If the section of steel column was not there…would you have seen/noticed the issue with/at the beam at all ???

Its constructed beam. That post was meant to be were its placed. The studs are not crossed braced, nor shimmed at tops, thats quite a bit of space there… Nor are they of adequate strength to properly carry any load that the beam may bear without the support post in place.

Its not a complicated fix or correction. The correction can only stabilize what has already occurred due to improper construction in the first place.

Replacing a steel column with two 2x4 studs is definitely a defect to call out for an HI … thats a no-brainer for me, as capacities are not even close (reference the AISC manual column tables and NDS/WWPA specs and tables for the other engineers on the board).

Now replacing a column support for the beam with a continuous bearing wall adequately constructed and supported is another story. But thats at least a “Concern” in my book that warrants a closer examination of the slab for cracking, and monitoring over time, as it’s often done wrong without reinforcing the slab the new wall bears on.

The lack of a double top plate does not really raise any red flags in my mind, as log as the studs are adequately connected to the wood beam.

JMO

true and…the picture does not show that.

Exactly…

Studs adequately connected to the wood beam? Sure doesn’t look like they are. Thats why its easier to put a top plate on rather than trying to shim and nail.

Until the new owner locate his grand piano directly above and then has a moving in party and then what?

I much prefer to be pro-active than re-active, below is in reference to the National Building Code (NBC) which I’m using:

9.17.4.1.Column Sizes (wood)

  1. The width or diameter of a wood column shall be not less than the width of the supported member.

  2. Columns shall be not less than 184 mm for round columns and 140 mm (5.5") by 140 mm (5.5") for rectangular columns.

As a carpenter from way back, Ray is right. It should at least have a top plate. That is just standard building practices. This wall doesn’t even have that never mind a double plate. The solution here is to simply double or even triple up the bearing studs on both sides where the jack post used to be. Although, the bearing pressure on the post footing will be a little off centre, it shouldn’t hurt anything and of course that wire will have to come out and the new studs re-drilled. (you don’t want the new studs notched). The rest of the wall really doesn’t matter structurally as it’s not going to be supporting anything other than drywall, but like Marcel said there will likely be an ongoing problem with nail pops from the way it’s framed. Just my two cent worth.

Then feel free to call it out, as a defect, if you feel it is, as I said before. Maybe the professional engineer you refer will back you up but I doubt it.

I just don’t think it is a defect, as the picture shows.

My point was that the studs on either side just cant do the posts job, and retrofit basement bearing walls are usually not done correctly with a thickened slab section below the wall.

Calling it out as a defect would be a judgement call based on field observations. But it is at least a concern in my mind.

JMO