I don't think the proper way to get span information is thru a phone call to a lumberyard personally. He and they may be 100% correct but I do not think I would trust my house remaining upright on a that type of information. A bearing wall removal really needs to be seen by an engineer for feasibility before you even get as far as you have. Just my .02 cents.

millworkman makes a good point but any lumber yard that I have ever dealt with that would spec something like this has a structural engineer on staff.One that I deal with does have and the other one I deal with does not and would never spec anything like this.

Good point, thanks. But my main question is, presuming a formal structural engineering review determines that notching out the rafters is the only option for us, is that a job I can trust with a just average contractor or is it sufficiently complicated to only entrust to someone who has done this before.

It's not real complicated as long as they follow the engineers advice.The cut sections of the joist will have to be tied into the lvl or supported somehow. I would want someone that has done it before.

Seems to me like steel should still be on the table. It will certainly be fewer man-hours given the notching scheme is tons of unnecessary labor. If that GC doesn't want to bring in the manpower to do setup and deal with the steel safely, then _boo hoo_, find someone that will.
When we have dealt with steel beams overhead, we use about one man per 100lbs of steel. The fabricator can give you the weight to the ounce if they have to.
Casey

progressnerd:

You want to see written approval from your local division of inspection before anything is done. If he doesn't want inspection involved, there's your answer. An engineer/architect can stamp a scribbled napkin. As long as inspection accepts it, you're good to go.

weedyacres:

That looks good, only I'd add #7, Make sure the load path (the framing that holds up each end of the beam) is fully supported to the foundation.

Thanks for the helpful comments!

Joseph Corlett: We are getting full inspection of all the work.

weedyacres: why not put the beams all the way flush? Good question. I assumed because that's all we could either safely get away with, or that fully cutting the rafter would be even more work/money.

Yes, Treb (JC: you are the former Treb, no?), one end rested on an exterior wall and the other on a stairwell wall. We were good there.

"Fully cutting the rafter would be more work/money" Do you want it to look good? You will get a better looking product if you do it right. For example, my basement is not the tallest. I am finishing it. There were junction boxes and hvac lines all over. Do I just put a hanging ceiling that lowers the height for the whole area even more or do I redo the electrical and move the hvac lines so there is just one bulkhead (I had to add lines for the basement anyhow) and I can use drywall on the ceiling and get more headroom. Taking the time to get a quality product is worth it to me.

Also as Joseph said, make sure your point loads on the ends of the beam go all the way down to the foundation. Weedy, that 'stairwell wall' does that have the strength to hold up the attic and roof? Point load means vertical beam going to a footer. You are safe on the exterior wall because the load transfers to a footer, but I dont know about the stairwell wall, where does that go?

It's not clear to me whether there is attic space above the ceiling in question or whether there is living space. If it is attic space, you may be able to run the LVL across the top of the ceiling joists and use hangers on the joists (the LVL needs to be supported on each each and there needs to be a load path to foundation.) We did this on a recent remodel and it's much less invasive "surgery" than cutting the joists and installing the LVL flush with the bottom of the joists.