RSJ being supported right?

[Patrick McArdle]

Guys,

I have a builder in doing some work for me. He put up an RSJ where there was previously a load bearing wall. Can you comment on the photos? I'm not 100% confident in what's been done.

 

[frutbunn]

WTF!!!! Very novel to say the least!
Not seen it done like that before!!! Where are the calcs? Are Building Control involved?

 

[Patrick McArdle]

When I first saw it I questioned him on it and he assured me it was fine. Over here (in Ireland) anything structural like this needs a certificate of compliance from an engineer. and he should have been engaging with an engineer . So I got in touch with an engineer and he said (based on the photos I supplied) that he was quite worried about the current setup. That it should be like a goalpost. I.e. the RSJ itself is fine but that it needs to be supported by 2 vertical steel beams (on either side) that are cemented into the ground (under the floor).

 

[SFK]

Those four circular and one large square dust marks make me feel as if he had a 'goal post' in place at some point.
And then never used it for some reason?

 

[Patrick McArdle]

@SFK You do raise an interesting point.. Looks like it was intended for another job, because the builder never had anything screwed into those holes at my site

 

[frutbunn]

I got in touch with an engineer and he said (based on the photos I supplied) that he was quite worried about the current setup.

I think the engineer was being quite polite and not expressing his real opinion. You would really expect the vertical steel to be taken down to a foundation and have a base plate welded to it and bolted down. I've never seen anything like that in 40 years of inspecting work. Its one of those jobs you photograph to show the lads back in the office.

 

[Jackrae]

Mr O'Reilly from Fawlty Towers by any chance ?

 

[Patrick McArdle]

@Jackrae Ha.. Looks like it. If only I didn't spend so much money on this guy. So much for being a good judge of character

 

[HERTS P&D]

Get some acro's underneath that beam asap.

Andy

 

[Alastairreid]

No engineers drawings?
Assuming he is building the pier up and installing padstones before removing the temp support.

 

[catlad]

Those dust marks might be from an accro used to wind the beam up!
Not sure why he would have removed it though before building the pier up.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

That first pic is a worry- the edges of that bit of vertical box will cut straight through those blocks cos the point loading will be massive. Should have a plate on the end and a padstone under it at the very least.

 

[Notch7]

The way forward is to express concern with the builder and say you would like to see the structural engineering drawings before any more work is done.

In England building control would require SE calcs as part of the building regs application and won't issue a final cert without them.

I would imagine a building inspector would want a site visit to see the steelwork while it is exposed, for inspection

A good thing about building inspectors is they provide some protection for customers from builders blagging their way out of short cuts.

Imagine if foundations were left to builders to decide......

 

[RK_MBD]

In case this gets redone...would it not be possible and probably a good solution if RSJ could be raised to be in hidden in the ceiling?

 

[Agile]

A lot of years ago when I used to put RSJs in my own houses, most cases would have used a cast in situ concrete padstone spreading the load over perhaps 400mm width of the supporting wall and the inspectors were happy with that.

However, many I have seen recently have required vertical RSJs with the weight taken by a foundation at ground level.

In an existing building I would expect it would be very difficult to hide the RSJ inside the ceiling.