Thread: beam's colons on first floor's floor.

Hi,

I noticed that the colons of the beam supporting the second floor, were installed directly on the first floor's floor. I would rather see these colons passing through the floor going to the basement and be placed on a footing, but my question is, is this installation somehow bad for the house? The second floor is sagging. Could it be related?

House was built in 1900 and was lifted up to install a new foundation in 2007. The owner told me that the second floor sagged only after jacking the house.

Thx in advance for your help.

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If the second floor is sagging I'd be recommending a engineer to provide a further assessment.

The support beam and column have been added in an attempt to shore up the second floor.

The question remains whether or not the jacking and subsequent support have been done properly. Big question mark in my mind.

Eli,
Columns siting on a floor is not the issue. Transference of load is the issue. The load must be supported to the footers.

I would question if a bearing wall was removed and a beam with columns used to transfer load from the second floor.
If the beam is undersized the second floor will sag,
If the column length is wrong the second floor will sag.
If the columns are not placed for direct transfer of load the second floor will sag.
If the post/column in the basement is incorrect in length or support (footer) there will be compression and the second floor will sag.

Have seen to often after lifting a structure that the replacement support is off by a little, causing a lot of problems. Many people do not want the correct sized beam due to blocking the newly opened up wall opening. So a doubled up 2x12 is reduced to a doubled 2x6 or 2x8 which to often just not enough for the span created.

Eli,
As Gary said, transfer of the load is the key. That being said, if this home was built in 1900 it was probably balloon framed. This would introduce more variables when lifted and resetting. Also it appears the beams are box beams, so outward appearance may not tell what the actual beam is.

for your info

All I can say is if somebody wants to try and have a load bear on my colon, there's gonna be trouble.

Ah Nick!!! another laugh for the ages
If you have trouble over there callinaaahskamee

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

All I can say is if somebody wants to try and have a load bear on my colon, there's gonna be trouble.

Nick, that was priceless!

Recommend colonoscopy by licensed physician.

As has been elucidated above, the issue is load bearing. You need to go to the crawl space and see what the column is sitting on, if anything. Load transfer can be accomplished by installing posts and/or blocking (but usually not elements of the human digestive tract), or sometimes adjustable steel jacks, as long as the load eventually transfers to the foundation.

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

All I can say is if somebody wants to try and have a load bear on my colon, there's gonna be trouble.

More recycled fiber will clear this all up. It's the Green thing to do.

To get more fiber, eat a 2x4. However, I hear the PT ones don't taste good.

Use guys are brutal! I thought I'd comment on Eli's colon also... butt that would just be bad taste.

Hope you have thick skin Eli, you'll need it around here with these buttmunches.