Hey,

I was wondering if anyone might know an answer to this question, I'm re-modeling my house, which involves removing a load bearing wall, (old front wall) and I was wondering what size would be needed to span that distance..

the span is 20' and we were thinking of using an 8x8x1/2" beam, but can't find any so our next thought is maybe a 4x10x1/2" (web is actually less like .441 or something)

thanks, and I hope someone might know the answer to this one...

 

If you go to a real lumber yard not a Home Depot or Menards And give them the information they will tell you what your going to need. They will need to know the size of both rooms that will be on either side of the beam and they will proberly tell you to use a microlam and double it up. In my ranch home I did this and used a double 8" micro and spanned 21'. They might also ask you your roof pitch. They have a formula for this and maybe you can find it on the web.

 

I will seccond the LVL beams, they are amazingly strong, cheaper than steel, and easier to work with. One of the salesmen at a real lumber yard should be more than able to help you.

 

Not sure if this is the beam you have, but a W8x31@ 20' will support 21,400 # max uniformly distributed.....a W8x25 will go to 24,900 max. Not sure if that is what you wanted since it has a 5/16 web.

The other sounds like a S10x24.5?, but it has a ..310 web. It will support maybe 3000# at 20. It is in the not recommended part of the chart.

You can get better info from any structural engineer. It won't cost much to have it designed. Safer in the long run. I can tell you we used a W12x36 to span a 25 foot garage and support a second floor dead center. It has a load of 29,400# max roughly. It would probably do it no prob....but then it really should be engineered to be safe.

 

I can't remember the exact details of the type of beam it was, but as I recall it was 32lbs/ft or so, I can check on that though.

It's a pretty small house, I'm opening up the porch into the living room, so it will have to carry the old roof weight (poor design) the top addition isn't out all the way to the outside walls, it's held up by what's left of the old trusses (after they cut them to add the 2nd story) and the wall between the kitchen and living room.

I'll have to check my measurements but the whole room is only 15' so half of the span would be 7.5ft (not necessarily where it would go to replace the wall but close enough definately under 10 on the l/r side).

I'll also check home depot (one just opened 1.5hr away), just steel was the first thought seeing as my dad already sucessfully went with a 8x8x1/2" steel in his house, years ago on a 21' span, however that beam did come from a dismantled bridge so it may have been a different type of steel.

I'll also see if the local steel supplier can get either of those beams, as they should more than do the job, we checked the building code book and we figured everything out to need to carry 7 ton or so (inc snow load), I get steel for cost so even buying new isn't too bad of a deal compared to marked up pricing....

Thanks for the replies,
Devin

 

You'll want a 10inch tall beam, like a W10x12. Going thicker on the flange doesn't really give you much more strength, but going taller gives you much more strength.

 

A 11 7/8 2 ply LVL should be just fine if you give me the mesurments from tip to tip and where the load bearing wall is i can have it sized for you for free and need to know whats on top example roof load shingles or slate another room be glad to help out if i can. you need a contractor to take the responsibilty off you and to make sure it's done right

kiley

 

how are you securing the ends? bolting into block or? can i walk it?

 

We're gonna post the ends to the floor. I was looking today and the beam we were looking at was actually S10x35... but anyway the W8x31 sounds very very similar to the one that's in my dad's house and it's supporting the middle of the house (21' span 10' each side) if anything in my situation it'll be overkill...

the old roof is about 4' and has nothing but sheeting and shingles on it, but from there is where the upstairs walls start, and it's supporting about 7ft of the upstairs bedroom. It's a hard thing to describe, but for the extra bit of money the previous owners should've went out the extra 4' and gone up from there... makes more sense, it's a real gem... tore into the walls today and found out there's no insulation in the upstairs haha

 

take pics and pm them to me and i'll get er done

kiley

 

Have you thought about how your going to get this thing lifted into place?

 

sky jacks steel heavy LVL very lite

 

Is this just supporting the ceiling and roof? Or is there a second story?

 

I'm a licensed Professional Engineer and I wouldn't even approach providing assistance on this question without a set of drawings from the original house and any additions done to it.

 

I think all the guy wants is advice it's up to him to make the right decision no strings attached .