Cracked wooden beam.

[KnittersCottage]

Hi,

This is my first post so apologies for formatting or if anything is missions. I’ve bought a 1860s-ish cottage, my first ever house. I am slowly renovating it and trying to bring out as many original features as possible. I had a roofer round as the storm was not kind to the roof and he noticed a crack in my beam in the downstairs kitchen. I had seen this at the viewing and seen the supports and assumed this would be sufficient. I also had a level 3 survey and it did not highlight any issues. The roofer however explained the support isn’t good enough and I should have someone look into this, but couldn’t tell me who to go to.

It looks like previously some work to remedy this and provide some support, a metal bar of some sort with a big metal screw either side of the beam and using the other beam to support this. The roofer was of the opinion that the supports should run the entire length of the other beams rather than just relying on the beam next to it.

I am looking for any help/ information that could help me on what I should do/ who I could call to correct this.

 

[Cubist]

Hi There,
First off, that's not a beam. Its a 'joist' used to support the wooden planks forming the floor above. It looks like whoever constructed built it did not use appropriate care when selecting the timbers for use and unwisely selected a timber with a natural fault that ran through a knot in the wood. Much of the weight load from above will be carried transferred through to the neighbouring joists and there is little danger of collapse - unless you attempt to put additional weighty objects up there.

The repairs are, or should be fairly easy and straightforward and consist of removing that joist completely and replacing it with a new timber. Given where the break in the old joist has occurred there is little room for a repair and that steel bracket is little better than a hinge.

Any general builder in your area should be more than capable of doing the job without too much fuss, and a capable DIYer could also do the required work. Make sure you only deal with a respected and competent person - there are a lot of bandits out there that will take advantage of you. Come back here for further advice as you proceed.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

[KnittersCottage]

Hi There,
First off, that's not a beam. Its a 'joist' used to support the wooden planks forming the floor above. It looks like whoever constructed built it did not use appropriate care when selecting the timbers for use and unwisely selected a timber with a natural fault that ran through a knot in the wood. Much of the weight load from above will be carried transferred through to the neighbouring joists and there is little danger of collapse - unless you attempt to put additional weighty objects up there.

The repairs are, or should be fairly easy and straightforward and consist of removing that joist completely and replacing it with a new timber. Given where the break in the old joist has occurred there is little room for a repair and that steel bracket is little better than a hinge.

Any general builder in your area should be more than capable of doing the job without too much fuss, and a capable DIYer could also do the required work. Make sure you only deal with a respected and competent person - there are a lot of bandits out there that will take advantage of you. Come back here for further advice as you proceed.

Cheers,
Cubist

Thank you!

This is such a clear and concise answer, I shan’t attempt the work myself but this morning I’ve rung a structural engineer to come round and quote me for some work to remedy this. Annoyingly this wasn’t raised in the survey I paid for.

There’s nothing weighty in the room above, it’s just a bedroom with very little inside it at the moment.

Being taken advantage of by a bandit was my concern so I tried to google what I could and found this website. Will keep you guys updated as I go

 

[Cubist]

Unless you have other concerns regarding the property a structural engineer won't be of much help. You will need a general builder to do this work - structural engineers don't get their hands dirty.

 

[KnittersCottage]

Unless you have other concerns regarding the property a structural engineer won't be of much help. You will need a general builder to do this work - structural engineers don't get their hands dirty.

Ahh, this was one who could also do the work to remedy the crack and replace joists. Had good reviews from real people and works on period properties. I will however also get quotes from other folk.

I do also want to see if there’s any recourse from the L3 survey I had completed.

 

[Cubist]

Coo, a surveyor with grubby hands - that's a rare bird indeed. But keep an eye open and your twitchers glasses to hand for the bandit birds anyway, theres a lot of em about at any time of the year. Good hunting.

 

[Stevers]

You have to wonder if the short cross pieces are there so that a 'good' joist can 'support' the broken one perhaps via the floor boards.

 

[Cubist]

You have to wonder if the short cross pieces are there so that a 'good' joist can 'support' the broken one perhaps via the floor boards.

Could have worked too - if they had used a timber long enough to include the two adjacent joists.