# Replacing Supporting wall with beam... ahem! LINTEL



## sbcontracting (Apr 22, 2010)

I may have made my life a bit more difficult recently.

I submitted a permit to the City to replace a load-bearing wall with a beam / column.

The 'load' is a 12' span ceiling in a bungalo. The load bearing wall runs down the centre of the house, 12' each side of ceiling. The roof is built in the 50's meaning a 2x6 ceiling joist, 2x4 rafters and a collar tie at the top about 6' across. So the 'load bearing' wall supports the ceiling.

I submitted the permit with a 2-2x12 'beam' to cover the new opening. The column at the one end of the beam sits on top of a jack post in the basement. The other column isn't far off.

The city came back and said that I should install a 4-2x12 beam to support the load. I might think that reasonable if there were bedrooms above it. But all I'm supporting is 3/4" of plaster, ceiling joists and insulation. 

The inspector is hopefully stopping by tomorrow. I'm going to say, whoops, I meant HEADER, not beam. And I'll even throw a 1/2" sheet of ply in between for added strength. Worst case, I could go LVL's I suppose.

I can't (easily) have the four ply beam as the column will push into the room and f*** up the cabinet layout. 

Would a hanging beam be feasible here? 

TIA, Mike


----------



## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Whatever the engineer says will work best.


----------



## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

Leo G said:


> Whatever the engineer says will work best.


That's why they get the big bucks:thumbsup:


----------



## sbcontracting (Apr 22, 2010)

Whew! Sidestepped a visit with the engineer. The inspector was pretty reasonable, pretty much agreed w/ my suggestions today. Bang bang bang! One LINTEL done, two more to go tomorrow AM


----------



## knucklehead (Mar 2, 2009)

Engineers are overrated


----------



## Joe Carola (Jun 15, 2004)

sbcontracting said:


> Whew! Sidestepped a visit with the engineer. The inspector was pretty reasonable, pretty much agreed w/ my suggestions today. Bang bang bang! One LINTEL done, two more to go tomorrow AM


Lintel??


----------



## sbcontracting (Apr 22, 2010)

aka header. Codebook up here doesnt differentiate... header = 2 ply 2xsomething beam = 3-4 ply 2x


----------

