twisted beam- what to do?

[dug]

Cut some loft beams and hoisted them up today, and discovered that they have twisted a lot more than I thought they had.



They are 20 ft. long, 4 by 8 in. beams. The other end you can't see is flat up against the stud, so I'm guessing it's about a 20 degree twist.

In addition to not looking so good, I am sure it will cause problems when installing the decking on top.

I am thinking of bolting it together and seeing how much of the twist I can reasonably pull out, then take a measurement and then cutting a wedge shaped block to fit in so I can bolt it up tight. I am hoping I can take about 1/2 of the twist out.

Sound reasonable?
Options?

How far can I go without hurting the wood?

[Whitlock]

Frist pray!!

Bolting it would be the best way to remove some of the twist. I wouldn't put any wedges behind it you might get more of the twist out by tighting the bolts up more later.

You would also need the add more wood braces to were you are bolting it to.

Also cutting the lumber shorter [chainsaw]I'm sure that is out of the question though.

[dug]

Frist pray!!

check

Also cutting the lumber shorter [chainsaw]I'm sure that is out of the question though.

You mean cut the beams in half? I will have a center supporting beam and thought of doing that. I thought it might be stronger to leave the beam in one piece, and also the break would be visible over the supporting beam and I am sure they would not line up too well.

I could still do it though.

[Don_P]

If you use bolts make sure the final position is bearing on the support not on the bolt, easier said than done. If it's hanging on the bolt it stands a good chance of splitting when the floor gets loaded.

I'd try blocking one end solid and at the end you show  make a block short enough to allow a pair of long opposed wedges to stand up. Stand a bar clamp up from header up to the top of the upper wedge and pull it down into the other opposing wedge. You'll probably need to solid block several bays. This has a slight chance of working.

Cutting them over the support will allow you to show 1/4 of the twist at each support point. Timber blocks fitted between the joists over the beam would hide the joint, a metal strap over the joint, under the floor would keep the tie.

These trees were lefties, notice the screw direction...good luck, they are tough. Old timers would firewood a lefty, I've come to think they were probably not wrong. My wife had 5 lags in the end of a lefty log and was bumping each lag a little at a time trying to pull the twist out. I was running the big saw and heard the machine gun sound over it. The lags popped like a zipper. You'll be hard pressed to find something strong enough to hold this if you do get it unwound. This is why my Dad switched to glulams in the '60's.

[dug]

Thanks Don.

Assuming I can convince those beams to get somewhat back in position, will they ever "get used to" their new shape, or will they forever attempt to twist?

[Don_P]

They are going to keep trying to twist until they reach equilibrium moisture content... till they're "seasoned". I doubt they are there yet from the lack of visible checks, so more fun to come. The fibers are laid down in those trees in a spiral. As they lose moisture and the fibers move closer together the spiral will tighten. If you can restrain it until it is seasoned it will "take a set" and will pretty much stay put...moisture cycling will always make it want to move if the connections loosen up.

To look at that another way, I was tempted to tell you to find a pond, sink them for a month or so till they are saturated.  Then force them into place and hold them there, tightening as they shrink. Green wood is about half as strong as dry, the swelling fibers would unwind the twist some.

Don't try drywall around them it will crack, this gets wood trim or blocking and drywall can be from their bottoms down.

[Pine Cone]

You might try bolting a big lever on it and seeing if you can twist it back.  I'd go for a 4"x8"x 8- or 10- or 12-feet long, bolted to the twisted beam, probably on the upper back of the upper side so that the twisting/straightening force would push the twisted beam clockwise/down.  I would also wet the beam, maybe wrapping wet towels around it for a day or three to see if that makes it untwist some.

You are probably SOL, but it seems like it would be worth a try before you give up at cut it into pieces.  You might also be able to use 3/4" pipe clamps as levers, but I'd feel better using a 4x4 minimum as a long lever.

I had one twisted 4x8 beam that twisted about 1/2" in 14 feet.  I twisted it almost straight using a 3-foot long lever.  I also had warped sill boards that lifted off my floor until a rain-storm wet them and briefly made them flat again.  I took advantage of the flatness and screwed the high edge down with moderate success. 

One thing about my log building project is it left me with a great respect for simple machines.  With one Peavey I can roll a 34 foot long pine log that varies in diameter from 10 to 17 inches.  Two Peavy's make it even easier.
With a few 3" pipe rollers you can move amazingly heavy things.   Didn't Archimedes say he could move the earth if he had a long enough lever?  (For those not familiar with a Peavey, it is a piece of old logging equipment which is basically a 4-foot long lever with a spike and a hook that allow you to stick it into a log)


With a 10 foot lever and a 3-ton chain hoist I'm sure you could twist your beam straight.  The problem is whether or not it will twist back after you bolt it in place which is one of the reasons I suggest you get the beam wet.  With luck it has a chance of drying straight, or at least straighter, but it is likely you will get some pretty big cracks in the beam as it drys.

[NM_Shooter]

Do not despair!  You are okay.  Just stabilize them and cheat.  I am not a craftsman.  I am an expert construction cheater.

I had this problem too.. with a load of lumber that I bought from a sawmill near Raton. 

When I put it up, I was mortified.  The twist seemed incredibly huge. 

I boxed in the beams, top and bottom to stop the twist.  They have been in place for 4 years now with no sheet rock cracks. 

Here are two pix of my beams:





Once you get the beams up, you can cheat a couple of ways...what is your ceiling surface? 

Ways to cheat :

1)   If your deck is wood, herringbone the ceiling like I did.  Cut each piece to only run beam to beam, and you will not notice the uneven ceiling surface....especially with a rough cut ceiling.

2)   Deck it over and keep in planar.  Shim the low spots.  When done, scab a very thin piece of trim on both sides of the beam, and use it to cover the gap.  If you keep this scab to no more than ¼ of the height of the beam nobody will ever notice it.

3)   If you must even it up, measure the twist, chalk line the high side, and rip it off with a beveled saw.  Use a straight edge to rip this, or you will definitely notice the rough edge.  This is by far the hardest of the three options to get right.  Don't try this unless you have a spare beam to discard!

Seriously... this is not as bad as you think it is.  Just make it stable and run with it.

[dug]

Thanks for the encouragement Shooter!

I was feeling pretty bummed but I am in much better spirits now.
Spent the better part of the day straightening the worst of the two beams and with the advice I got here and a little luck I think I succeeded. 

It was getting too dark for photos- I'll post some tomorrow.