Basement steel beams in Manchester, NH: a new main beam under the floor, or one that opens up a wall. We install it to the engineer's plan, so the steel in your house matches what was designed. Call (603) 660-2011, or send us that plan.
A house gets a steel beam when the way it carries its weight has to change. Often that means a worn-out main beam in the basement, or a bearing wall that's coming out. An addition can call for one too, because its span may be longer than wood can manage.
Several people have a hand in it. So the order matters. The engineer sizes the beam and puts it in a letter or a plan. A structural change usually needs a building permit, and Manchester lists its building permit applications online.
Outside the city, check with your own town, since each one runs its own permits.
No engineer yet? That's the first call to make, because nobody can size the beam without one.
Then the builder or remodeler runs the job, and we set the steel. Most of our work is commercial, but houses are part of it. They sit with the steel for homes and builders we take on, next to lintels and frames.
The main beam in a basement carries the first floor. In older houses it's often a built-up wood girder, so it can sag over the years. Notches and undersized lumber make that worse.
Upstairs, the floor may slope or bounce.
Steel takes its place. The engineer's plan covers more than the beam, though, because the load has to reach the ground. So the posts under the beam, and the footings under the posts, belong to the same design.
Getting a long beam into a basement is its own puzzle. It can come in through a bulkhead or a basement window, if the opening and the turn inside allow it. But sometimes it has to come in sections and get joined inside, and which way works depends on the house.
A bearing wall holds up the floor or the roof above it. Take it out, and something else has to carry that weight, so the beam takes over.
While the wall comes out, the floor above sits on temporary supports. That way nothing moves before the beam is in.
The beam can hang below the ceiling, or it can sit up inside the ceiling, flush with it. Dropped is simpler. A flush beam hides in the ceiling, but each joist then has to hang off its side. The engineer and your ceiling height decide which one you get.
Every beam job is priced from its own plan, so two jobs that sound alike can come out far apart. That's also why we don't print a number. A figure from a national cost guide isn't your house.
The span comes first, because it sets the size of the beam. A longer span means a deeper or heavier beam, and more weight to get into place. The number of posts matters too, since each new post needs a footing under it.
Then there's access. A beam that fits through the bulkhead in one piece is simpler than one that has to be spliced inside. Holding up the floor while the old wall or beam comes out adds time as well.
The permit is its own line, and so is the engineer's fee. The finish work afterward, like drywall or boxing in the beam, is done by others and priced by them.
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It depends on your plan, and finding out is free. A small job gets a number on the phone, while a bigger one gets a written estimate. We price from the engineer's letter, so the beam gets sized before you get a number.
The engineer works that out, since we don't guess. The size depends on the load above and how far apart the posts are. It also depends on how deep the beam can be without eating headroom. So two 20-foot spans in two houses can need different beams.
Steel spans further at less depth, so you keep more headroom and may need fewer posts. Wood or LVL, a manufactured wood beam, can cost less and suits shorter spans. Which is better depends on the span, the load and the room you have. The engineer weighs that before the steel is picked.
Call (603) 660-2011 and tell us what's changing in the house.
Then send the engineer's letter or plan, a few photos and the town you're in. Add when you'd like the work done, so we can see how it fits.
