@XR250 The mystery is solved! It's a European beam. Have any idea why a European beam would be installed in a Canadian home (in the middle of a development)? This isn't even a custom home, part of a track of 12 or so. Very fascinating.
Fails spectacularly (obviously) without the central post and doesn't seem to be economical to make it work. Replacement appears best option now. Thanks anyways @XR250
Good day everyone,
[Ontario, Canada] Client has a steel beam above the garage supporting the second floor above. The roof, above the second floor, is trussed and loads the outer walls. The steel beam has a post at each end with a third in the middle of the span. Total beam length is 20' 2"...
We advised them to replace all wood framing in the exposed regions (with new PT), treat all adjacent surfaces with a special purpose fungicide, and not to reuse the insulation material. New post spec is a Mitek Redjack.
Very well could be, but we didn't get a good look because of safety concerns and don't know the exact entry point at this moment. The owners will need to explore the roof and exterior walls in detail once the structure has been safely supported.
Where we work, everyone calls this dry rot. Next time I will call it "Serpula Lacrymans" as the biologists named it ;) Although I am not sure if that would make it any clearer for folks on this forum :ROFLMAO:
This specific form of rot is commonly referred to as "dry rot". It's called dry rot because it leads to the wood becoming very brittle, dusted with red, and with a spongy texture. During growth it shows up as this grey/white "skin". At advanced stages it's almost like the wood has literally...
I should add, that is my process for renovations and whatnot. If they come to me with architectural drawings and simply need the structural engineering, then I provide a fixed cost with the agreement that additional reviews/resubmissions/site visits/site instructions are all hourly.
At the end...
I certainly can relate because it residential work is a big chunk of our business. That said, I have made it my priority to explain the required efforts to my clients so that they are more understanding when it comes to my costs. I also provide pricing in staging.
X amount of dollars gets you a...
So what you're seeing are ceiling joists, simply for the garage drywall and fumeproofing. There are engineered joists running parallel to the beam, in the same plenum space, for the actual second floor. Thankfully too, because otherwise that floor would have been a death trap right now.
Flat roofs are notoriously susceptible to ponding, for starters, so in states/provinces with frequent snow and rain that introduces countless complications. Plus the flat roof membranes are easy to install poorly, but difficult to install well. That leads you to a roof that 1) will likely have...
I don't even understand why they're still built in the northern US states or anywhere in Canada (in residential). In my experience it's not a question of if they'll fail, but when.
