I see this a lot in my area but have never understood why from a structural standpoint this is allowed without much thought. There is the argument that it has been done for years and years without issue, which is valid in a sense, but I would like to be able to rationalize the acceptance. Tell...
Did an evaluation at a townhouse property earlier this week and came across a truss profile I haven't seen before. It's a gable roof, but the ceiling has vaulted rooms at each end of the truss and a flat ceiling in the center portion. My guess is that the perpendicular wall below the...
What's the standard approach/detailing for supporting a new elevated floor off an existing exterior wall that supports an existing elevated level? It would seem that the existing wall could be opened up to thread new floor joists in between existing floor members, but I think the wall sheathing...
Doing a residential screened porch addition and need some input on how others would approach the lateral design for this. Generally I wouldn't be too concerned here except this particular design does have a fair amount of wall area that will receive wind pressure, see plan below, wall on left...
Working on a situation where I've got to raise the floor level in an existing depressed room at a residential property. It's old construction from the 60's. Existing floor is slab on grade of unknown thickness poured separate from the perimeter walls (floating slab). Perimeter walls in the...
Are there any code provisions (residential) that prohibit the use of brick masonry chimneys for support of beams (likely multi-ply LVL)??
I have a project where the owner wants to do a rear addition and vault the ceiling. The new ridge happens to line up with an existing fireplace chimney so I...
See sketch below. A client of mine has asked to have a 2-story loft built inside of a pre-fab pre-engineered steel barn structure. Due to the barn structure being engineered for only its on weight and wind/seismic as applicable only for itself the loft would not be attached and completely...
I have a project where a client wants to remove a portion of an exterior load bearing wall in order to make a large opening to a rear addition. The wall supports the 2nd level floor, roof trusses, and brick veneer. I've seen some threads about brick veneer support with wood as it relates to...
I have a potential project where the client wants to remove a portion of a CMU wall that separates different areas of an industrial building. The CMU wall is part of the lateral system for each side of the building so I am envisioning using either steel moment frames (or braced frames if I can...
Went out to do a residential evaluation today and it ended up being a cluster of issues. Lots of stuff going on based on the visuals. Needing some opinions on what items in this list warrant addressing and what can just be monitored. See my sketch for issue numbers corresponding to the list...
Anyone on the forum here know of a person who would be a good technical resource for dealing with any number of issues that come up with wooden floor trusses? Seems like lately I get more calls about these things and they can turn into research projects real quick if you don't have a lot of...
See below for some pictures from a potential client looking to remove the existing island/posts at the kitchen. There is a floor above that overlooks the great room, and it also looks like there are some posts coming down from the roof in this area. I don't have any measurements on the space...
I've been called in to assist with a standalone residential garage project. The client/owner neglected to have a foundation inspection and now needs an Engineer to get the permits closed out. The foundation and superstructure is mostly complete, see pictures below. There are a few items that...
Considering taking on a project where I have been asked to determine the capacity (load rating) of a mezzanine that is used for storage in an existing facility. I'm comfortable with the field work and engineering to back out the numbers but my question is how far to take the checks. At face...
See pictures below. Looks like a mechanical contractor just decided those web members weren't needed so they got cut out. Besides replacing the trusses with a profile that goes around the mech components is there another alternative repair? I'm thinking that a traditional rafter/ceiling joist...
Anyone here do work with residential foundation contractors who install helical piles and other foundation repairs? Recently I've been asked to "approve" a recommended repair scheme that was put together by one of these types of contractors. This is part of a real-estate transaction so my info...
See image below. A local inspector has required an Engineer stamp on the framing that creates the roof/walls of this 16'x24' shed; so I have been called in on this. Analysis of the framing isn't too complicated but I am looking for some ideas on the simplest way to analyze the gusset/nails...
I've got a client who needs a fix for a wood floor joist that had a hole cut too close to the top edge of the member (see below). I'm considering trying to analyze this with a 2x6 spliced on to each face of the existing joist. My thought is that as long as the flexural and shear stresses of...
Different question on the same garage structure I posted another thread about.
Can you use a prescriptive portal frame from the residential code at a gable end wall where the wall framing is balloon framed (i.e. full height studs with no flat double top plate at ceiling level)? The code (in my...
