Replacing a main beam in a 1935 farm house?

Question

Hello contractors, construction workers and carpenters, I have an important question for you, and I'll detail in a few parts.

I recently bought an old home, I love it and know its going to be a lot of work, the previous owners did their best with updates like new wiring, brand new heater, concrete floor in the basement and concrete drive way which is very nice, but the plumbing which was mostly copper due to the year of the home was ripped out by thieves and needs redone, the roof is in bad shape and leaking in a few places, the lead paint is in every room and the main beam has old termite damage.

Good thing is, the termites have vacated the premises, the house has been treated before we even looked at it, the basement was sprayed and the foundation outside is darted with the green termite bait traps.

Now we have a poor condition main beam that my husband refuses to allow to deteriorate any longer.

1# Around how much would an 8 by 8 wooden beam run? I know this depends on how long, and unfortunately I don't have exact measurements at the moment.

2# We're planning on doing so ourselves, my husband and father in-law are carpenters (they've never done beams before) exactly what would we need to get the job done?

3# please add any codes and restriction you can call to mind, all of which will be extremely helpful.

Thank you greatly for your time.

Answer 1

I assume by "main beam" you mean in the basement

You do not want to use a solid wood beam, you want en engineered/laminate beam or better yet steel.

As far as doing it, it's not rocket science, the main idea is to support the floor joists during replacement.  You need to build temporary supports on both sides of the beam.  Just like framing a wall, but double every stud or better yet use metal post jacks, like the ones you'll need to hold up the new beam and place them under a header under the floor joists.  Once the floor is supported, remove and replace

As for codes, I personally have done a lot of home construction, but I would still spend the money to have an engineer spec the beam, maybe $200

Answer 2

HAW, Good luck wit dat, buy a newer house.

Answer 3

First off replace the copper with PEX. It's a better product and has no value for thieves. You never mentioned if the beam is a Ridge Beam or a floor beam. But either way you might want to first have a structural engineer look at it to make sure it needs to be removed but also if it is sized large enough for your house. Lots of old houses had under sized framing. Also the wood today isn't as strong as the old growth wood many houses were built with. The easiest way to repair it is if it's still strong enough is to glue and bolt lumber to the sides of it. The bolts would need to be 1/2" and go all the way trough. If it's exposed you can find some barn wood or something like that and cover the repairs with what's called a box beam. Removing it and replacing it can be dangerous. You would need to build walls on either side if it to support it.