Interior load bearing wall needs better footing…
Amy10N
12 months ago
Hello, I am going to speak to the county engineering inspector, just wanted to share and see whether this has been experienced before and capture your suggestions.
During build, my husband identifed a wall that looked to require better footer stabilization. (Sits on one inch, leaving 2 inch gap underneath.) On the bathroom side. He sent a message, received response that it would be addressed. The drywall was put up, we asked about the measure taken and were advised the county inspector passed it as it was.
We are concerned about future issues with settling, not sure if high risk, and disclosure obligation if we were to sell down the road.
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Comments (11)
3onthetree
11 months agoRelated Discussions
Question: Load bearing walls and poured-wall basement
Comments (12)building off of what renovator said, if you have load bearing walls on the first floor, you need to align structure below them in the basement. This can be beams or walls. Frame walls will be your cheapest option in most cases. However if you do not want a wall there, then price is not always the driving factor. However if you are a single story plus a basement, you shouldn't have too many first floor interior bearing walls. If you use steel or LVL beams, they must be sized to carry the first floor load as well as the loads placed on the first floor (2nd floor and possibly roof loads). As you can guess, this can make wood beams, even built up, quite deep. Steel might be your best bet here if you have longer spans between columns in your basement to keep head room heights at ideal levels. I tend to disagree with the claim in wood costing more then steel. Steel will cost more then wood in most cases. The post can be hidden inside walls (why would you do this? save the money and make the wall bearing! unless of course you have a very high point load) or they can be boxed out and made decorative. I joists should actually be cheaper then a floor truss, but typically cost a little more then solid 2x8-12 framing. However IMO, I joists are far superior. They can be had in very long spans so they can lay a continuous 30'+ joist across your load bearing beams/walls and allow for straighter and faster construction. Also, depending on the depth of them and the spacing, they can easily clear span 20'+. Plus they are a "greener" product. Trusses will cost more, but the benefit you have there is the web openings to allow easy smaller duct runs and electrical access....See MoreNeed Help for Basement Renovations! - Load bearing wall/point
Comments (19)Benjamin, I would think that an experienced builder could look at it and tell you what needs to be done right off the bat, without going to the expense of hiring an engineer. There's nothing wrong with getting a quote and then deciding to do all or part of the work yourself. The reason I asked if the original builder put up the wall, is that the work looks kind of amateurish to me. Why go to the trouble of building a wall, using that much wood and not finishing it, when a simple beam with support posts would have been much easier to do. What is on the floor over that wall? Maybe a previous owner was trying to correct a problem or trying to put in additional support for something heavy (like a waterbed). If the wall is a true bearing wall, I would think that it's also supporting another bearing wall on top of it. I'm having a bearing wall taken down on my first floor and wanted to move one of the supports for the beam that the builder is putting in. My builder told me that the support had to be there because it would sit over a support in the basement and it's important to transmit the load from above all the way to the ground....See MoreDo the interior walls on these architectural plans look load-bearing?
Comments (17)Hi all, Yes I get the risks involved, which is why I'm taking the time to try to get as much technical input as humanely possible before doing anything. Certainly it would have been much more risky of me to go right ahead and make structural changes without that. Repeating over and over that I shouldn't be asking the internet isn't doing anything. I appreciate those of you such as BobH, live-wire_oak, and jdesign_gw who actually share helpful, technical information for me to look into. To be clear, I've never planned to go ahead and dive into demo based on the conversations here. I didn't mean to give that inaccurate impression. This is just a sounding board to try to collect information. I am continuing to contact local professionals who can come see the house in person. C...See MoreI think the concrete company missed footings for a load bearing wall..
Comments (31)The other footings had rebar. I'm not sure about the floor because I wasn't there. My GC said the inspector is quite thorough here so maybe I can get a hold of him. I'm 50/50 on whether I want to bring it to his attention or not though. Some have told me that the ground here is so solid that even if it is missing it's going to be worse to rip up the floor and it should be fine without the footing. But if it does crack...then down the line I'm suing the concrete company? I dunno about that plan. I tried to post the first floor above but the pic isn't coming through. Also our contract doesn't have all fixed prices there are lots of allowances so if I have any extra inspecting done I'm sure I'm eating the cost. And lumber is already killing me....See More
PROMark Bischak, Architect
11 months ago
ulisdone
11 months agoAmy10N
11 months agoAmy10N
11 months agoAmy10N
11 months ago
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