The Best Intentions.... How to lift an oak beam...

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

project bathroom still in operation... we've purchased an oak beam from Oakbeamuk.com and whilst not the cheapest place to source stuff I have to say the customer service from these people is fantastic. The beam supplied is 150mm x 150mm x 2.5M and is to go into the bathroom so that I can the build a ceiling and loft space to enclose our new boiler. The finish on the beam is lovely.

To provide a little history, the bathroom is part of the kitchen extension to the back of a C18th cottage.

So to business does anyone have any recommendations on what I can use to lift / hold the beam in place ?
I have to lift it by about 2M and it weighs by my Ooomph guage about ooooomph or i'd say approx 100kg (I can lift it off the floor by about 2" and I'm not superman and me and the wife carried it in from outside without too many issues).

The issue really is going to be the amount of lifts required as I have to lift it to mark the wall, put it down again cut the hole for it to slide into, manouever it in place and so on and so on, given the beam is currently longer than the roof space (by the amount it will go into the wall by and it's weight I need a clever way of lifting it... I don't fancy using a hoist attached to the current roof joists... any tips / thoughts ?

Paul.

 

[Damon]

You could build up a platform slightly lower next to where the beam would go so that each time you only have to lift it off the platform instead of off the floor?

Failing that, you may be able to hire an engine crane to hold the weight. Use nice wide straps and it shouldn't damage the beam. Alot of them fold away so getting one in the bathroom shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck anyhow!

 

[Zebra]

Accro props.....Somehow?.....

 

[paulc]

Depends on how high it has to be lifted, and if you have space above the final location of the beam. If there is something substantial about a metre above the final resting place, a chainblock & webbing straps would do the job. The alternative is a hoist such as https://www.hss.com/hire/p/181kg-lifter-stacker-gl8 (cheaper alternatives available elsewhere).

A scaffold tower would help to get the beam up to working height, but there would be much cursing and grunting along with the possibility of squashed fingers.

 

[Flyfisher]

I doubt there'll be an easy substitute for the help of a couple of friends. I fitted a 250x250mm x3m oak beam into our inglenook fireplace but it took the help of two other people, though only for about 10 minutes.

I'd have thought it would be possible to mark the walls for cutting out using a template. How about a couple of pieces of 1/2 inch plywood cut to the side profile of the oak beam and about 30cm in length. Perhaps even use a couple of 2x1 inch battens the length of the beam to screw to the plywood ends, holding them in the exact position of the beam ends. This template could then be used to mark out the wall and then make the required cut-out.

This should mean the beam will only need to be lifted once. I would make the cut out slightly larger than the beam and have a few pieces of slate to hand when fitting the beam. These can be used to level the beam and then finally wedge it in tightly prior to mortaring the remaining gaps. I'd also cut some thin pieces of wood and use them to tamp the mortar tightly into place.

But I think that final lift is going to need a bit of extra muscle if you want to avoid some fairly involved mechanical lifting arrangement.

 

[a twig]

You could do what that fellow did in Grand Restoration Amazing Designs Space Man when he had to place a whopping oak beam when working by himself.

Not exactly H&S approved, but he essentially had a tower at each end (timber not scaffold if I remember rightly). Each tower platform split in half, so one half could be higher than the other. He then lifted one end up a few inches onto one half of the platform. Then raised the other half up a bit, and lifted it back across.

Then did the same process the other end. Trying to find the right bit on youtube but it isn't obliging.

In short:

Two side by side platforms at each end, supporting the beam.
Raise one platform at one end a few inches
Lift beam end up and across onto higher platform.
Raise height of now vacant platform
Lift beam end up and across back onto the original platform - you should now be some 6 - 10 inches higher off the ground at that end than you were before
Repeat for other end until level again

Keep doing this until you get to the desired height.

 

[malcolm]

It might be possible to reduce the number of lifts by making a template from a very much lighter material, then get people around when you need to do the heavy lift.

A piece of oak of exactly the same nominal dimensions arrived here this week. Mine is a post not a beam so should be very much easier to handle.

 

[Keith Bowman]

When I had a similar task I put a step ladder at each end and raised the beam a step at a time at alternate ends.
My beam still had circular saw marks so I spent a long time planing them out, chamfering the lower corner/edges and cutting thumb stops at the ends of the chamfers. It looked so good (to me anyway) that I gave it a coat of linseed oil. Learn from other people's mistakes - coating a heavy beam with slippery oil before you lift it over your head is a stupid idea

 

[MikeG]

That's an easy single person lift. I've done multiple beams well over twice that size by myself in my current project. I lifted an 8m x 150 x 125 beam just with my wife.

Assuming you have no headroom above the level to which the beam is being raised (and therefore can't hoist it on a winch), you simply place a couple of solid supports say half a metre either side of the centre-line of the beam, and lift in a series of lifts from each end alternately, inserting support each time. If you have supports at the ends of the beam, you lift the entire weight of the beam each time, and once it gets high, that might get difficult. By putting the supports close to the middle of the beam, there is a large counterbalance effect helping you out.

The last few inches are done with acrow props. Have lots of clamps to hand, lots of off-cuts of timber, particularly battens, and have some one-handed clamps too. Stop and think before every single move: what can go wrong? What happens if I drop it?

This one is a tiddler (150 x 125 x 4m), but the principle is clear:

 

[MikeG]

.....I gave it a coat of linseed oil........

Oak and linseed really don't go together. It will turn a shade of orange (often compared to stale urine!) with time. If you aren't going to limewash it, leave it bare.

 

[MikeG]

.......The issue really is going to be the amount of lifts required as I have to lift it to mark the wall, put it down again cut the hole for it to slide into.......

Don't do this. Lift it once only. Make templates of ply, MDF, or even battens and cardboard and offer that up repeatedly until you have everything right. You must of course leave yourself a little tolerance. Whatever you do, don't lift it more than once.