beam

[rakuz66]

Hello to everyone! What a great site, glad to be here.  Anyway, I'm obviously new here and own a camp in upstate NY that I'm rehabbing.  I bought it about a yr ago. It has a weird set-up as there are trusses over 2 bedrooms on end and framing over LR/KIT/BATH for vaulted ceiling over LR.  Kitchen and bath have normal 8 ft ceilings.  Camp is 25 ft long by 22 ft deep- 1 story. Anyway, onto my question.  I have a 15 ft beam made up of a doubled 2x10 that supports the ceiling joist(2x8's 24 in/ctr) and rafters(2x8's) over KIT/BATH/LR area.  This beam runs from kitchen through bath.  It is soundly supported at posts through foundation and ground. Supports are at ends and 9ft out.  Basically, I'm not concerned about the 6ft section of the beam as the cj and rafters rest on beam and bath wall. however the 9ft section of beam is open (kitchen).  So, I then built another doubled 2x10 (9ft)and placed it 2in away from original beam for more support over the 9ft section.  Had to do this because there were water lines running along original beam.  Anyway, snow load is 60, there is minimal DL, only cj,rafters, insulation.   Is this beam sufficient ?? Any help is appreciated, thank you.

BED   BATH/KIT
----  B--E--A-M
BED    LR

[PEG688]

Welcome aboard.

  If I follow your post right, I've read it four or five times, I don't see the need for the added beam ?

  You've put it parrell and 2" away from the existing beam.??   Did you put posts to bearing under them / it?

If it's a one storey building , you have no live load on those ceiling joist, just drywall or some such ceiling material, is that right?

Does the existing structure / beam sag?? If it's only spanning 9' with some "help" from the interior bathroom wall.

I'll add that adding collar ties in the attic would be  a better solution , at least from what I can figure from your post , to prevent wall spreading and assisting with beam load.

Or maybe I have mis read what your asking. 

[rakuz66]

Welcome aboard.

  If I follow your post right, I've read it four or five times, I don't see the need for the added beam ?

  You've put it parrell and 2" away from the existing beam.??   Did you put posts to bearing under them / it?

If it's a one storey building , you have no live load on those ceiling joist, just drywall or some such ceiling material, is that right?

Does the existing structure / beam sag?? If it's only spanning 9' with some "help" from the interior bathroom wall.

I'll add that adding collar ties in the attic would be  a better solution , at least from what I can figure from your post , to prevent wall spreading and assisting with beam load.

Or maybe I have mis read what your asking. 

Hello Peg!!  Thank you for getting back to me!  I'll try and answer your questions one by one>
1. Yes and yes .  2in away parralell from existing beam.  REsting on piers.
2.  1 story bldg, no live load except for drywall/insulation above.
3.  No, it does not sag.  It spans a total of 15 ft, with supports at bathroom wall and bedroom wall and kitchen wall.  In other words, 
---------BEAM----------------   (15FT)
X    6ft  X       9ft               X       X = supports posts
4.  There is collar ties on each rafter pair as well as 2x10 ceiling joists ever 4ft coming off oppsite wall,
( I made them loom like beams)
5.  I made another 2x10 beam to span the 9ft and placed it 2 inche parralell to the original because I wasn't sure about the 9ft span of (1)2x10 beam supporting rafters and ceiling joists with the 60lb snow load.     

[PEG688]

I'm not a Engineer , but I'd say you where fine with the orginal beam , if it's not sagging and has held so far with what your saying it was and is good to go.

Whats the roof pitch?  I ask because the steeper the better in snow country. Make stronger roof due to the shape of the triangle , sheds snow better , and is less likely to leak.     

[rakuz66]

Roof pitch is only 5/12.  I'm trying to post a few pics, but it seems they are too large, I'm sure pics would help!

[glenn kangiser]

You can put them into Photobucket and have them sized to 640 x 480 coming out of it.  The size you put in doesn't matter.  Edit Photobucket options for desired display size.  Great tutorial in Forum News section to answer your Picture Posting questions.

[rakuz66]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  By the way Peg, I think I figured out why your a bit confused over my situation.  The vaulted ceiling is only over the Living Room area, not the bath or kitchen.  So, there are ceiling joists with purlins that run to bottom of rafter over kit/bath, which rest on the beam.   As stated , there are also 8 ceiling joists which come off of L.R outside wall resting on beam nailed to opposite wall ceiling joist to keep walls from spreading. 
                   
               Outside wall
--------X-------X-----------X
Bed 1    X  Bath X  Kitchen    X
           X          X               X
--------X-------X-----------X
Bed2     X     L.Room            X
           X                           X
--------X-------------------X
             Outside wall

[rakuz66]

Did it work???

[rakuz66]

[PEG688]

 Ah,  that should work, who vaulted that ceiling ? You? Or some other former owner? It does not look orginal to me , some one cut off the old ceiling joist , I think and vaulted it  some time after  it was org. built.

Yes it is odd, are you going to sister deeper rafters along side the existing to gain "R" value / insulation space, or  material  underneath  , gusseted  along side for added  insulation space???

BTW I think a Engineer would puke if he saw that , or rub his hands together figgering on the $$$ he could make , but I think it will do the job , not sure it would pass inspection here in the PNW.

Edited for WHO not "how"     How'd I miss that

[rakuz66]

Not me!  The previous owner cut the bottom chords out of 1/2 of the original trusses to open up for a vaulted ceiling over the L.R. but left the rest of the truss intact over the bath / kitchen area.  He left the trusses alone over bedrooms.  I sistered what was left of the trusses with 2x8's and ran those new ceiling joists you see coming off the L.R. wall to stop it from spreading.  I plan on boxing them in to create a beam affect.  Anyway, I did have a engineer give their signed stamp of approval on the repaired truss.  Just curious about the beam, that's why I put in another double 2x10 , nine ft long for xtra support.

[rakuz66]

Just a few more


ED: slight resize and inserted space between images for better visibility - MD

[PEG688]

I thought they looked altered. Home owners / handymen can be the worst enemy of a building     


On your photo posting add a little space , hit the spacer bar a couple of times before you insert your photos , so they don't "run together" easier to view 


Edited to add I see Mtn D helped you out , nice job Mtn D

So what are you going to do about the insulation in that vaulted area?

[MountainDon]

It looks like your added work will keep the roof from collapsing. 

Wouldn't That have been a surprise to the former owner as he cut through the trusses. 

Reminds me of the guy down my street back home who removed a 16 foot section of a center bearing wall so he could have one large room instead of two smaller ones. Soon after he finished the ceiling it kept developing cracks down the center...

[MountainDon]

Edited to add I see Mtn D helped you out , nice job Mtn D

So what are you going to do about the insulation in that vaulted area?

I like spaces between... it is easier to view, some pictures more than others. Hit the Enter key twice after pasting in a photobucket image link.

And I like the 800 wide in most cases better as I know not everyone uses wide enough screen setting to view without scrolling sideways.


I'm interested in what/how on the insulation as well. EPS foam would give most R for the space available, MTL.

Thanks for the photos.

[rakuz66]

Thank you Mtn for the photo tutorial.  Next time I'll hit the space bar a few times, sorry about that.  Glad to hear that you think my repairs will keep the roof from falling, that was my biggest concern.  Anyway, The rafters are 2x8 , so all I can fit is R-19 insulation.  I plan on putting up 1" thick insulation board that is R-7 which will give me a total of R-26, I know it's not enough but it's the best I can do in this situtaion, unless anyone has any other advise???  Also, I would like to keep the weight on the rafters to a minimum as per the cut trusses and my reapirs and all, what would be a good material to place on the ceiling that would be lightweight???  I think 1/2 sheetrock is to heavy, I could be wrong.

[Willy]

Thank you Mtn for the photo tutorial.  Next time I'll hit the space bar a few times, sorry about that.  Glad to hear that you think my repairs will keep the roof from falling, that was my biggest concern.  Anyway, The rafters are 2x8 , so all I can fit is R-19 insulation.  I plan on putting up 1" thick insulation board that is R-7 which will give me a total of R-26, I know it's not enough but it's the best I can do in this situtaion, unless anyone has any other advise???  Also, I would like to keep the weight on the rafters to a minimum as per the cut trusses and my reapirs and all, what would be a good material to place on the ceiling that would be lightweight???  I think 1/2 sheetrock is to heavy, I could be wrong.

Won't 6 inches of foam board get you to R38 and still leave you a 1+ inch air gap? Probley big bucks but may be a way to do it, not sure. Mark