Did you get a cost for a 41 ft. wood beam? I'm assuming it's laminated. Did they mention how they plan to ship a 41 ft. beam?

Lvl yes. Comes in sections

Well then it's not a 41 ft. beam.

It always costs more to recess a beam that surface mount a beam, (provided conditions dictate that it's even doable) because the time and labor involved.

@BeverlyFLADeziner Thanks! Right, I should clarify it's a 41 foot SPAN not a 41 foot BEAM. Great video!

What you said makes sense - although I wonder if the effort and cost of building 667 sq ft of lowered ceiling to hide the surface mount beam(s) is actually less than just a flush beam.

It is going to be much cheaper to drop the ceiling. I don't know what you're doing about the footings. How do you redistribute the load across the span?

On a 10ft. ceiling can't you work the surface mounted beam into the design? Does it have to be free an clear?

Removing load-bearing walls - cost for recessed beam vs. under joists?

Ask the person doing the work.

@suzyq53 I'm having a structural engineer do a design. I'm trying to get advance guidance on what to design for - flush vs. drop ceiling

@BeverlyFLADeziner those are nice examples! unfortunately in our case we have an old Victorian house (1904) in a city (San Francisco), so the houses are narrow/long and we don't have as much freedom to have beams exposed/boxed as they look odd.

Dropping the ceiling has the advantage of making space to run plumbing and ductwork. If it isn't a single clear span, you might be able to combine the methods to help define spaces

You ask the engineer and the person doing the work I think you will need to do that right now. And yes this needs to be a steel beam so unless you had an engineer tell you this wall can be removed and what needs to be used stop and get an engineer before the house falls down

Thanks for the great comments and advice! I'm in a much better position now to speak with the structural engineer when we meet.

The structural engineer can calculate the size and type of beam you need for the load and span, but won't be a good source regarding the installation cost of flush beam vs. a dropped beam. You need to consult the person who will be performing the work. I recommend you get both parties together to review the alternatives.

It’s not a 41 foot “clear” span if the beams are in sections that add up to 41. Where beams meet end to end there needs to be reaction members (columns). Given that, and assuming the clear span for each beam is significantly shorter than 41 feet, wood may certainly be a practical choice. I do not like specifying steel in residential applications when not necessary due to 1) increased difficulty and cost of adding connections, and 2) the additional lateral bracing system (extra $$$) required for the extra weight of steel over wood.

"We're going to be removing load bearing walls in an old house that will necessitate putting in an 8" support beam about 41 feet long."

It isn't often that a comment here makes me laugh out loud, but that one did. I've searched high and low, but cannot find a single span chart, LVL, steel, or even magic that will allow an 8" deep beam to span 41 feet.

The OP's posting doesn't specify whether the beam is clear spanning the 41 ft length or whether there are intermediate supports.

I think I'm laughing louder than you. I'm sure the engineer will place posts at the required intervals as posted by the OP. For the flush beam just ask your contractor what the additional cost would be (probably 2-3 man/days plus materials) .

For an 8" deep beam, there will be intermediate supports.

For an 8” beam, in an old heavy balloon framed house with a second and third floor and attic, there will be enough intermediate supports that they might as well leave the walls.

Fortunately, there's a structural engineer involved, which means the armchair structural consultants here on houzz.com can take a powder.

The OP's question related to installation cost of a flush vs. dropped beam. Knowing that the beam specified is 8" is pertinent; whether there are intermediate supports, not so much. The best source for an informed answer to the cost question is the OP's contractor. Since there is likely more than one option, having the contractor and structural engineer confer will allow them to be explored most efficiently.

"Fortunately, there's a structural engineer involved, which means the armchair structural consultants here on houzz.com can take a powder."

This armchair structural consultant has been in a crawlspace with an engineer and his little bitty 3' level which was telling him nothing. He needed a laser or a water level to get any meaningful information on whether or not the hillside home was sliding into the adjacent river. But hey, he graduated college and I didn't so what the hell do I know anyway?

A flush beam is generally more work and therefore more expensive than a dropped beam, but this case gets more complicated with the cost of dropping the ceiling to cover the dropped beam and particularly the value of the loss of historic fabric and esthetics in an older home.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC

I think the concluding paragraph of your most recent post is splendid. It would be even better if you had used "aesthetics" in lieu of "esthetics." Although, I'll accept its use in the context of my suggestion to "take a powder."

To those who provided constructive feedback, thank you. To those of you who mocked or laughed at my question, I’m not quite sure why you’re doing that in a forum for helping people with questions.

DC:

No mocking intended. I found your 8" x 41' beam amusing. I was being honest; that's what I do here. It's why you come here. Good luck.

DC, you don’t even use a 8” door header in a single story lightweight 1970 ranch house no where near any earthquake zone. Those are all 12”. Which is why the 8” is completely absurd on it’s face, even as an LVL, or steel. Then you mention 40’. You've got a lot mixed up in your posting, or else you’re working with a Larry, Curly, and Moe Clown School alumni.

Live_wire_oak,

2016 CBC interior and exterior header span tables certainly allow for less than 8 inches for 2x headers. Depending on the home and door width you could even use doubled 2x4’s.

I would also add that for residential applications, it is very rare when an earthquake load is the determining factor for beam /header sizing, even in earthquake country.

As you know, span and load has to be factored in. 8” is a red flag that there are some misunderstandings going on here. There isn’t a builder here that would use a plan 2x4 as a header on a 36” door in a load bearing wall. No, they don’t use advanced framing techniques around here. That doesn’t make them wrong. That ensures no red tags happen and the project keeps moving.

We needed some serious concealed beams for our remodel of the first floor to eliminate several posts in a pony wall that spans about 30' and to remove a step up to the kitchen and dining room. They had to demo out sections of the cement foundation and dig and pour much larger footings that are tied together somehow. Also made the slider from 6' to 12' which required larger footings in new locations and a big header. They had to cut a wall to just to get the 30' beam in the house. It was a huge deal and very time consuming and $$$$. This is in SoCal with constant earth movement.

Live_wire_oak,

I certainly wouldn’t dispute that most contractors would not use double 2x4’s for a header despite what the code allows (and therefore what is safe). I suspect that you and I know there are many things a contractor does when framing a house that has more to do with just meeting code. It’s much easier to tell your employees to frame every door and window with 2x12s to be safe and not have to do code checks for every opening. I will say though, the better framers in the small minority will take the time to understand what the actual header requirement is so as not to overbuild and create unnecessary thermal bridging.

"It isn't often that a comment here makes me laugh out loud,"

About the only thing funnier is not reading the thread wherein it was clarified that the total span was 41" and multiple beams would be used.

However, I guess it's easier to just make fun of someone rather than actually contribute!

"About the only thing funnier is not reading the thread wherein it was clarified that the total span was 41" and multiple beams would be used."

Salti:

Please reread the thread and specify where that information became available before I made my comment. Good luck.

Same guy is trolling my post, and I see he does it a lot. I think it is best to just feel bad (aka pity) him because he must be a very unhappy person. All he has to do is be nasty and rude to people. Very sad.

Deborah:

I bring the truth to Houzz readers whether or not it's what they want or like to hear. My tone isn't always perfect, but my advice usually is. You want confirmation that you've picked the right color sofa? Go ask your mom, she likes all your choices. If you think you're going to span 41' with an 8" beam, you're dreaming and it's my obligation to tell you so.