Support Beams

[Waya]

What is your ideas about anchoring horizontal load bearing support beams to old concrete walls

 

[kipp]

Just a few items to think about before you go hanging any additional load on a concrete wall. What is the function of the concrete wall, is it a retaining wall? Is it in compression supporting something? is it doing both of these things? How thick is it and what kind of reinforcing does it have in it? All of the above and more come into play. I would start by seeing if any building plans exist. These should indicate the specified compressive strength of the concrete and reinforcing size and layout in the wall.(Many times these do not exist and you conservatively wing it.)When it is decided that all of the above indicate that additional loading may be okay. The approach is to determine a failure mechanism because concrete is lousy in tension. Typically there are 2 options for attachment(1)bore completely through the concrete attach a plate large enough to distribute the tensile load through an adequate section of the wall. (2) if your load is small or your wall to thick to bore through it is possible to use epoxy anchoring devices. I don,t usually promote any brands but you could start with Hilti Fasteners. Your problem doesn't indicate the magnitude of loads if there is vibration etc. It may be that you are attaching one end of a beam to the wall and that the wall only needs to pick up the beam end reaction. In which case the fasteners are in shear and the magnitude of the reaction is taken from the wall to the foundation. Which should also be checked to insure it is not overlaoded. Just some things to consider