Counter Beam Sizing

[Eddie_T]

Why the shunt?

 

[Ron Van]

Your house is collateral for your mortgage loan; don't tell the company what you are doing & have done.

Whether I have a mortgage or not has never been discussed on this thread but if I did, I can't imagine calling them to discuss my plans . . . and likewise, they never call me and tell me what they're up to.

I researched the roof load on this wall and feel confident that it is stronger than it used to be. I say this for several reasons. One reason is that a doubled stud that carried most of the roof load had been cut out by 70% to accommodate a 4X4 double light switch. The main concern, as Bud16415 said, is the load transmitted to the end walls.

It seems that your rafters are continuous from the ridge to the outer walls so all loading is going in that direction and the bottom chord is the issue where the rafters want to push the end walls out under load.

As discussed, collar ties were added to the roof rafters to prevent pressure on the end walls but really, I didn't cut any ceiling joists. My beam is parallel with the ceiling joists. The ceiling joists were cut in the original construction to accommodate a ceiling beam that is perpendicular to mine. It has been like that for 51 years. Due to the collar ties, it's no doubt stronger now than it was.

I generally over engineer things I do. The installed beam is supported by posts that are 50% thicker than called for. The beam itself is thicker than necessary for the calculated roof load verses length of the span. The end posts are resting on the foundation wall of the house (the same foundation wall the removed wall was sitting on). As discussed earlier, collar ties were added to the roof rafters to prevent pressure on the end walls.

 

[Ron Van]

Why the shunt?

What do you mean, Eddie?

 

[Eddie_T]

What do you mean, Eddie?

Sorry, I failed to address it to Guzzle's comment;

Run an extension cord as a long test lead to a known good ground & check every hot, neutral & ground lead with a voltmeter shunted by a 100w incandescent bulb.

 

[Eddie_T]

BTW I tend to work they way you do, over engineer and skip the intrusion of inspectors, pulling permits and etc.

 

[Guzzle]

A 100w bulb eliminates Phantom Voltages, if you don't have a Wiggy.

 

[Eddie_T]

A 100w bulb eliminates Phantom Voltages, if you don't have a Wiggy.

I've never had that problem.

 

[Guzzle]

Everybody else has. Romex has an inter-conductor capacitive of about 100 pF/ft & gives all kinds of voltage readings depending your meter's input impedance.

And >300' of Romex may trip a GFCI, with no ground fault.

 

[Eddie_T]

Everybody else has. Romex has an inter-conductor capacitive of about 100 pF/ft & gives all kinds of voltage readings depending your meter's input impedance.

And >300' of Romex may trip a GFCI, with no ground fault.

Never experienced 300' of Romex or a GFCI but I usually use a small cheap analog meter for rough voltage testing. Plus I have never worked as an electrician.

 

[Guzzle]

Never did house wiring for pay in somebody else's house & I still have my 1000 ohms/volt Radio Shack VOM from decades ago. I keep it in my truck, it doesn't care about freezing temps.

 

[Eddie_T]

Pocket knives and VOMs, handy tools.

 

[Ron Van]

My daughter saw what we did and wanted to open up her house.

 

[Ron Van]

And document everything, for you & others.

Yes, I agree. I'm a big time believer in documenting everything. I am having to add Junction boxes in the attic not only for stuff I am adding but also to clean up the wiring mess that I inherited. On each J Box, I write what is in it as well as writing on the romex itself. I have drawn schematics for all the wires I ran. I have also pretty much figured out the existing circuits in the house and made a spreadsheet with all the CB's and what they control. I taped a copy of this spreadsheet inside of each CB box in the house (there are five boxes total).

 

[Ron Van]

Update on the wall project...Finished off the crown moulding and floor baseboards and then installed some LVP. But first, I wanted to remove the original Stone step that was 8" high (rise) and put in two 5 3/8" steps that match the new opening size

 

[Eddie_T]

I enjoy monitoring your progress. Kudos for design and implementation!

 

[bud16415]

Looks great and it looks like the end is in sight.

 

[Ron Van]

Looks great and it looks like the end is in sight.

Thanks. I'm in Alaska for the summer flying float planes but when I get back, I will start on the ceiling, both painting it and putting in LED can lights. I already ran the wiring and installed dimmer switches for lights. I also need to put more LVP flooring in. Then it's the master bed and bathroom that will get the focus. That will be another big project involving a beam and wall removal but my wife said I can't start the bathroom until after the 2022 Holidays. She doesn't want the house torn up during Christmas like it was last year. While I'm gone, we are getting 7 Marvin Windows installed. They are black fiberglass frames with black PVC brickmould. We opted for casement style to get the largest viewing area and also to comply with the 5.7 SqFt egress code for the bedrooms. I can't wait for that!