Just give up on Nick. He's always long on equations but completely lacking in any common sense or practical real world experience. This whole thing is laughable. He tells the guy how much weight a bunch of
2X12's can hold, as if that is the solution to his problem. Like the guy already knows the load that's going to be on the beam, how it's distributed, what structural support there is at the endpoints, etc. Unbelievable.
Laughable, yes, but I do get concerned that someone who doesn't know any better will believe his spiel.
He reminds me of a kid that is _so_ proud of their newfound knowledge, forgetting that with knowledge comes responsibility. He's irresponsible with his knowledge, and careless with his assumptions. Many people on usenet are. Maybe I just expect more from him, I don't know.
R
Well... Brain Surgery isn't exactly rocket science...
Estimating its strength doesn't answer his question. The bafflegab you post might mislead the naive into believing it is an answer. You're being irrisponsible and can't bring yourself to admit it. Most of the other responses have been of the "you haven't provided enough information" sort, because - he hasn't provided enough information.
Mike
Writes books? - give us his name.
He'd better brush up on his engineering skills...
Guesses are not what you need - you need knowledge.
Tell your idiot friend to look up "lateral-torsional buckling" in a real structural engineering book - e.g. page 203 of "Structural Steel Design". Lambert Tall ed. 2nd edition Ronald Press Company, NY.
Lateral-torsional buckling is critical in slender beams - and a ten foot long unistrut supported only at the ends qualifies. Open channel sections are more sensitive to it than closed sections (as I have already pointed out). To prevent this, you have to either brace the beam along the length or limit the load and that's what the load reduction factors are for. The OP was asking for a closet rod unsupported along its length, hence only the latter approach is appropriate.
You're an blowhard that thinks he know more than he does.
Mike
Like the response below? :-)
Article: 797996 of alt.home.repair From: snipped-for-privacy@ece.villanova.edu Subject: Re: Beam advice Date: 19 Mar 2006 07:55:38 -0500 Organizati>Steve Barker LT wrote:
Depends on the kind of wood and the load and its distribution.
Like, what's the load on the beam? With bending moment M = WL/8 in-lb and a total uniform load W in pounds and L = 14x12" and S = M/f = bd^2/6 in^3 and f = 1000 psi and d = 11.25" and b = 5" (3x1.5+0.5, if half the plywood grain runs lengthwise), W = 8bd^2f/(6L) = 8x5x11.25^2x1000/(6x14x12) = 5022 pounds. You might make it stronger by substituting some metal for plywood.
Nick
First off, I am a structural engineer and second, forget about the insurance costs or voided policy. If the building fails and someone is inside, you may lose lives.
To the OP: Would the cost of an engineering opinion be worth the cost of losing a family member?
I followed most of this thread and while I understand the concepts of engineering design and code, most of the thread is valid. I will say, rather than get stuck on "too" much theory, I'd follow the local building codes for this situation (I didn't look at any pictures tho). And besides the sizing of the beam, the number of fasteners or location in the flitch beam and the ends will also matter (inotherwords, what good is a correct beam size if the connections fail). And I don't think live load reductions will come into play here tho I'm not up on all local codes but I've used the UBC codes some time ago.
I had a very similar situation where I removed a chimney. I kick and kick and kick myself for not hiring a structural engineer before and DURING the work. Hired one after the fact, engineer thinks the work may be ok but I do not. We have had many rain leaks (even after replacing the roof twice) and now I may have to rebuild a portion of an exterior wall because I think there has been movement. My theory is that the chimney was providing stiffness to the structure, like a column. In our case, the chimney was also supporting wood beams which were difficult to remedy. I think the structure is moving differently and somehow letting water in. Don't be a big dumby like I was. I have spent 5x the cost of the engineer and still have water dripping into my house because of movement. Also, if you hire a structural engineer make sure you have them come to the site and approve the work before it gets covered up!
Thanks for your reply. As it turns out, the wall nor the chimney were holding anything. The wall was merely a partition added later in life and the ceiling joist run parallel to it. All of it is gone now. No beam needed. Just a few more verticals in the walk in attic to tie the joists to the rafters.
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