Thanks for the information. So after shoring things up and removing the bearing wall, are the ceiling joist cut and attached to the new beam with joist hangers? Is this as strong as having a beam installed underneath the joists? I'd be a bit concerned about the load on the joist hangers.

Also if I understand correctly, if I were to have beams installed on either side of the fireplace and supported by an interior wall, I would also need to add posts in the basement underneath the location of the posts. Is that correct?

It all depends on where the load bearing walls are. Sometimes the flush beam in the ceiling might be supported by yet another beam. A structural engineer specifies everything.

The beam

What it is made from

How it is made

How many nails per foot per stack

Type of fasteners and joist hangers

Specific beam hanges

point loads

how many 2"x4" or 2"x6" are needed under point loads

Foundation blocks

On and on.

These guys and gals go to school for this. There is a lot to know. Not something you want to practice on in your home.

the kitchen ceiling joists and living room joists always overlap above load bearing wall. you can insert new beam into ceiling area and use joist hangers. this is typical. somewhat messy in that you usually end up tearing out a lot of ceiling sheetrock for access. you can install a beam above the load wall where it sits on top of the ceiling joists. and use hangers that drop down and carry the load. than remove the load bearing wall. you end up with a thin missing strip of sheetrock where the old wall was. still hard to patch cleanly. depends what the engineer and contractor want to do.

Thanks for the input. My house is a ranch, so there's nothing to support above it, but the roof. We're taking out a load bearing wall that separates the living room from dining room, and the contractor will replace this with a flush beam. One end of the beam will be supported by an outside wall and the other end will terminate on a small wall that sits over a post in the basement. I get the feeling that my contractor has done this a lot and feels pretty comfortable with that arrangement.

Meanwhile, I've noticed that my living room runs the full width of the house (24') with no support other than a homemade truss arrangement for the roof, that I understand was common in the early 1960's. This arrangement has stood the test of time, so I guess it's okay, but I still get a bit nervous when there's a large amount of snow on the roof. I had asked the contractor about installing a beam over the living room as well, but he was a bit more hesitant about that, and merely said he would look at it when he starts the kitchen work.

So I guess the answer is that an engineer would be needed to decide if/how additional support could be provided in the living room. That's probably why my contractor is hesitant to give me a firm answer.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how the cost of a flush beam compares against putting a steel beam underneath the joists? I would assume the steel itself would be more expensive, but the flush beam would be more labor-intensive.

There was an article on replacing a supporting will with an overhead beam in Fine homebuilding in just the last 2-3 months.

Thanks. The article looks interesting, but it's member-only.

I did speak to my contractor who said that he's putting in a doubled-up beam made from LVL, and that the structure will be 84% stronger than the maximum load that could ever be placed on it.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how the cost of a flush beam would compare against a steel beam? I asked my contractor about a steel beam and he said it would be overkill. It seems to me that material & equipment costs would be higher for a steel beam, but that labor costs would be higher for a flush beam.

"I would be careful adding new weight to an old chimney."

In this case I doubt the weight is a factor considering the immense compressive strength of masonry, but more likely fire protection clearances.