Nice piece of oak

[Badfish740]

Well, it's more than just a "piece":

Unfortunately I couldn't get a better picture (pilfered it from my mom's facebook page-yes...my 53 year old mother has a facebook page and I don't :lol, but yesterday my wife and I were at the old homestead checking out their kitchen project. As you can see they live in a log cabin, which is where I spent the first 25 or so years of my life. Where the post and beam now stand was a load bearing wall, so my dad needed to come up with a solution for support. He called up a local sawmill and they invited him to come down and see what they could offer. The beam is 8x12-not sure what kind of oak, but it weighs about 40lbs per foot.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I know you don't care, but . . . that's not gonna meet code.

But it looks pretty awesome :cheese:

 

[Badfish740]

I know you don't care, but . . . that's not gonna meet code.

I'm guessing an engineer would have to have been involved in order for it to meet code, etc...? Needless to say it's probably overkill to the nth degree in terms of what's needed for support. The wall only carries the weight of the second floor-the outer walls handle the roof because it's all trusses. The main support girder that runs directly underneath the beam in the basement is made from two massive steel I-beams that were sourced from a scrap yard. An engineer was called in for that since it was new construction. I'm not sure of the size, but the beams each span nearly 25' (Total length of the house is about 49' or so) and there was only one support column needed.

 

[RNLA]

I would think, other than the little blue stamp on paper, the beam is probably more than enough. This is not just because of it's sheer size but also it's position and support. However when I have seen these types of installs before the joints are usually made with a large, plate steel flange of some sort including large through bolts. This would lock the joint together.

 

[begreen]

Wow, when I first saw this I thought it was veneer.