Characteristic Design Values The characteristic Design Values for Wesbeam e-beam LVL are available on request from Wesbeam’s Technical Department. We sell the beams by the foot and will cut and sell a beam to your preferred size, provided we can return 12′ back to stock. member listed in the Span Tables is taken from Table 2.5 in AS1720.1:2010 - Timber structures, Part 1: Design methods, where for all LVL structural elements. The engineers with the computer programs can run the numbers very quickly.LVL beams are 2″ thick and come up to 24′ long. Drywall attached to the underside of this system is not expected to crack when the floor joist system deflects 1/3. Typical deflection limits referenced in code books are L/360, L/240 or L/180.
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You'll only pay a little more to oversize the beams though it is wise to get a professional assessment. These limits are based on live loads and activities experienced in specific rooms of a house. All LVLs are glued and timberloc screwed or nailed together. I stripped the walls, so the LVLs end within the walls with new studs/beam pockets carrying the loads down to the foundation. There is a 2x4 plate on top of the LVLs to take up the distance of the plate at the top of the wall. Since the original ceilings are 9' tall I will drop them to the bottom of the LVL-8'. I do have two sets of double 9 1/2" LVLs upstairs above the collar ties carrying some of the roof load down through the end walls and stairwell walls that bisect the house in the 28 foot (east/west) direction so all beams are sized throughout the house with relation to each other, house load, snow load etc. A neighbor, who is a residential engineer, ran the numbers. LVLs die on appropriately sized headers where needed above windows. As the table shows, no 2×8’s meet the span and spacing requirements, but a 2×10 with an E of 1,300,000 psi and Fb of 1093 psi can span 15 feet 3 inches more than enough. I jacked the floor above when putting in the LVLs and removed most of the sag from 100 years of no support. Then drop down to find the appropriate Fb value for the span. Allowable total and live loads used to select a header or beam must be equal to or greater than the actual loads applied. In ad-dition, lateral support must be provided at bearing points. All LVLs supported in beam pockets and columns down thru walls. The compression edge of the header or beam must be laterally supported at intervals of 24' or less. Where the second floor joists lap I removed an old twisted timber (added in 1950s to replace a wall) and replaced it with a double 9 1/2" LVL. I've added 12' long double 9 1/2" LVLs 5 feet in from each side wall directly under the kneewalls/joists that carry some of the roof load above. The upstairs joists are 14' and 10' long above this room (a little longer because they lap). All joists and rafters run east west and all LVLs perpendicular (north south). The front room is 12 x24, joists running in the 24' direction (east west), the gable end wall is the 24' length (north). I am supporting my 1 1/2 story 1906 house with a scaffold of LVLs and columns from the ground up to the 2x4 rafters. I just want to be able to be somewhat informed before I talk with him. I know ultimately it will come down to the building inspector's OK.
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Is a double 2 x 10 enough to hold up my house and meet code? Is a single (or double) LVL that is 7 1/4 tall enough? I just want a simple beam, supported by 4 x 4s underneath either end. I hear anecdotally that a 2 x 8, doubled up, is sufficient for an 8ft span and a 2 x 10, doubled up, is sufficient for up to 10 feet.Ĭan anyone point me to a table or a calculator or an equation where I can determine what size header I would need using traditional methods, and what I can use if I go with an LVL or some engineered solution? The things I find online are very confusing about live load and dead load and PSF vs PLF and deflection criteria and bearing resistance, etc. This is on the first floor of a 2 story house, I assume it is a load bearing wall because there is another wall directly above. The new opening we want is 9 feet 3 inches. We are opening up a wall to get more "open concept" between two rooms.