Sagging Support Beam

[jcthieman]

I have an old row home in Baltimore. It was originally built in 1912
with two stories and two rooms deep. Shortly thereafter the brick
wall was punched through and a kitchen was added.

In the process they used rough cut a beam that was 11 feet in
length, one foot wide and, 6" high. Sometime in the past the place
had a termite problem and they ate away at the beam. This had
happened by the 1970's when wood panneling was installed. At this
time, they framed the passage with just 2x4's on each of the sides
and two more to support the beam. The 2x4 on the front side of the
beam is not sagging but the one in back is.

I had an inspector come out and he thinks I can do it myself by
cutting the beam out, a half at a time. He said to get two jacks,
lay down 4x4's on the bottom and top to distribute the weight, cut
out half the beam and replace with a series of three 2x6's, then
repeat to the other side. I have not done this before, but it sounds
feasible. Just looking for other ideas and suggestions. If I do
this, should I start with the side that is sagging or the side that
still seems to be supported?

This is a two story brick structure. The beam runs the length of
this wall. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks! James

[pushkins]

How wide is the opening going to be once your finished, are you going to maintain the same as it is now or open the wall up ?
You mention that the beam is 1' wide ???? is this one beam of several pieces together?
2x4's can never be used for support beams in this situation and in effect are probably doing very little other than giving a place to nail onto.
What's above this beam I see floor joists but is there another wall upstairs sitting on this beam, exterior wall maybe ?

Usually you cannot remove "half" a beam at a time and any bearer removal can be dangerous if your unprepared (or ill informed). Creating a temporary wall like you mentioned on the side of the wall that bears on the beam is a must either with steel adjustable jacks or simply build with 2x4's a temporary wall with the same standard housing construction 16" centers etc...

I doubt very much that standard 2x6's are going to be suitable for this job, your best bet is going to be a manufactured laminated beam, but we'd need the answers to the above questions first.

[jcthieman]

Thanks for the post!!! It's greatly appreciated. The opening is currently 5'2" and I don't plan to expand it beyond that.

The beam is 1' wide, it is one solid beam made of rough cut lumber, I imagine it is the original from 1912.

I understand that the 2x4's can't be used for support and wish that whoever did that would have known!!!

This was originally the exterior wall prior to the addition. It is solid brick, about a foot wide that goes up one story, however, there is one doorway and one window in the wall on the second floor so of the 11' span, bout 5' is not actually all brick. On the sedond floor there was a bathroom addition on half that extends over the kitchen. The other half of the building there is a window and the wall here is still exterior and looks out onto a patio.

I did not think it would be wise to remove "half" the beam until the inspector suggest it (he does have a stonger electrical/plumbing background but does seem to know his stuff) but he said any settling that had ocurred did so prior to the 1970's when we believe the paneling was installed. That is why he thinks it would be safe to go that route.

[pushkins]

The inspector is correct in the assumption that in a home this old it is more than likely that any settling occurred long before now (unless something else has happened structurally since).

The brick sections on either side of the opening are the bearing points of this beam, taking the load of the wall down to the foundation, your problem in cutting out half the beam at a time is, how are you going to cut the beam down the center at these bearing points ?
I'm assuming that this beams starts and stops on this wall in this room and doesn't keep going to the left or right ?

One of the problems I see is that the beam is mortared in with the brickwork, removing the beam means trying to disturb as little as possible of the mortar and brickwork as when the new beam is placed shims have to be used to transfer the load from beam to the bearing supports. I can see that there is no "floor load" on this beam as the floor joists are running parallel to the beam and pretty much right beside the brick wall, however the bricks themselves add up to tons not to mention and roof load.
There are only a couple of ways to replace this beam and neither are really for the inexperienced, there may be a window and doorway above but this beam is taking the weight of the brickwork and possibly/probably the roof load as well.
In many cases the solution to this repair is to cut holes through the brick wall above the beam big enough to pass through temporary support beams (often steel I beams) perpendicular to the wall, these beams are then supported on either side, the old beam is then cut out, new LVL/s or flitch plate beam is installed, shimmed and non shrinking grout added.