I have a 100+ yr old home in NJ. I have a 27 foot main beam ( 2-2x8's) that runs about 2 directly through the middle of the home in the basement that rests on a stone foundation. the floor joist run the opposite way notched on the main beam and the sill plate. I want to start doing some renovations but 1st need to address some out of level floors directly above this beam on both the 1st and second floor. I only have the issue in the rear half of the home where there are loadbearing walls above the beam on both the 1st and 2nd floor ( the front half of the home doesent have any walls above this beam so i assume not carryingthesame load) I paid a company to have their engineer come in and he confirmed that that there is about a 1-1/2 inch dip on both floors which also matches very close in the basement where the beam is sagging in the rear of the home. he did this with a laser and a tape measure measuring around from the floor to laser and same in basement measuring from the bottom of the 1st floor between the floor joists down to the line. they stated that a double 2 by 8 is not much of a beam and told me I should have it replaced which isn't uncommon in a home of this age. there are temporary Lally columns up and down the span of this beam so they also plan on putting 2 supports in with proper footings.this is a baloon framed home and the wall studs in the rear half of the home sit directly on the main Carrying beam in the basement that needs to be replaced. I know they will build temporary support walls in the basement under the floor joists on both sides to remove the beam but when I asked what would hold up the studs that are sitting on the beam assuming they extend all the way to the attic helping support the floors above he said that it was fine because they are attached to different parts of the structure all the way up. he also said they would have the new beam in within 30 minutes of removal. they also plan to jack the new lvl beam in the rear of the home to try to bring everything back to "close to level" i asked if jacking was done over a period of time and he said no they would do it the same day and in his experience jacking over time will produce the same results to any finishes like cracked drywall. I am petrified to have this done. this seems to be a reputable company that specializes in this type of work with hundreds of positive reviews. should any of this scare me, like my home is going to collapse. cost of job is $300 per linear ft of beam ($8,100) and $2,000 per footing and column ($4,000) totaling $12,100 and $300 per joist that might need to be repaired sistering which seems steep considering it's about a $25 piece of lumber for a 2x8 joist.
little more info on the home. basement floor joists are 2x8's and the second floor has 2x10's joists he said the 2x10's on the 2nd floor is part of the reason they can mostly correct everything from the basement without doing anything on the 1st floor . I attached pics of the beam with studs sitting on them. any feedback would be appreciated
little more info on the home. basement floor joists are 2x8's and the second floor has 2x10's joists he said the 2x10's on the 2nd floor is part of the reason they can mostly correct everything from the basement without doing anything on the 1st floor . I attached pics of the beam with studs sitting on them. any feedback would be appreciated
