I was at a friends house, approx. 120 years old. They wanted me to look at a metal support column in the basement that rusted and fell down. The column was not original to the house and was sitting on a dirt floor with a very small rock under it. The column was "supporting" a main beam of solid oak 8" by 8". The beam went from a stone foundation wall to stone foundation wall and had a span of 12'. The steel column was 7' from one of the foundation walls. I did not feel the column needed to be there, considering it could not be holding much weight sitting on a small rock. There was no bow in the main beam. I do not have a picture. My friend did not want to hire an engineer to evaluate, and it would probably be cheaper to pour a proper footer and install another steel column anyway.

My question is, Do you think it is necessary to put the column back?

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