warped cedar beam in pool house. causes ? 1

[lubos1984]

Good Day Everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend.

Last week i visited a client that was complaining about a warped beam. When i got there, I saw two large cedar beams where one was really warped especially at the ends. Never seen anything like it for that kind of beam size. Of course the beam was bearing down on a wood base plate, with some nails that were obviously not doing much to restrain the beam.
The column was not sitting on the foundation wall! not sure if they added a footing for it but that will need to be verified.

My initial inclination is that the beam has warped so much due to not being properly secured at supports but I'm still surprised how much its warped. The pool house is a heated structure.

For a fix i was proposing to replace the posts with a steel post and u bracket with the void cavities inside filled with wood and bolted through to provide a rigid support.

Anyone have any thoughts about this warping ? and any opinions if this fix will avoid the warping or are there other factors at play here ?
Thanks again for all your help folks!

 

[jayrod12]

A long wood beam with this sort of warping isn't unexpected to be honest. I've seen similar things in similar circumstances. I'd bet in an ultimate state, both the beam and column serve their purpose. I'd be contemplating angled shims to promote full bearing and a proper connection from post to beam. And that's probably all I'd do.

 

[kissymoose]

Wood framing in a warm, humid environment, not surprising.
Like jayrod12 said, it can still perform as a beam under some warping. I would ensure that the end conditions can prevent rotation as the NDS requires instead of just sitting on a few 2x4s with toenails, and that there's a load path to a foundation like you mentioned. Fortunately there's no finishes that warping would mess with.
A wood framed, enclosed, heated pool room though, I would expect mold and rot in tight spaces like connections.

 

[phamENG]

Only thing that looks really wrong to me is that the painting of the ships is on their wall and not in my library.

But yeah, shim it and strap it, then observe it.