# replacing 2x6 supporting wall with steel post



## rowdy48 (Jul 3, 2008)

I'm looking at replacing a basement  2 x 6 load bearing wall.  The center beam on this 2 story brick home is 3
 2 x 8 's sandwiched together supported by the 2 x 6 wall on 16 inch centers.  I want to open the basement for a large media room.  The length  of wall I want to replace is 
24 feet.  I expect 3 steel post necessary with a footer being installed for each of them.  I'm sure the joints of the 3 2x8's beam are staggered but because one side of the basement is finished and on the other the air ducts are blocking my view I don't know the joint locations yet.  Any input on the post footer sizes  or if an 8 foot span under these conditions would be suitable ?


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## hondadrv24 (Jul 3, 2008)

umm cant help you out, but i know the guys on here who can are going to ask you how wide your house is so that they can determine how much load the wall is bearing at the moment.  so if you could tell us your room is 24x (what)  when they read this they will have a better grasp of the situation.  

also do you know if your roof has the pre-built rafters or do you have the old 2x6 built in place rafters?

good luck, im sure someone on here will be able to help you solve your problem.
Justin


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## mudmixer (Jul 3, 2008)

You must also have new footings under the colmns/posts since the concentrated load is not spread out by the existing slab like it is with a long wall.


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## inspectorD (Jul 4, 2008)

What the guys have said is true, you will need new footings installed under the posts ..as you said also.
The question I would ask myself ...and an engineer...is why was there a wall there to begin with?
Posts are much cheaper to install. But I think they installed a wall to get rid of some of the deflection of the 2x8 beams and joists. The span is more than 12 feet on the joists, right? And the floor has a little bounce to it also? When you remove the wall ,you will have more bounce because the weight is transferred to only 3 points, no longer continuous. If you can live with that, you need at the minimum 12 inch deep by 2 foot square footings.  Now this is just an estimate because we do not know what you are holding up and where the point loads are on the beam. We also do not know where the posts need to go . They need to be at the joints of the beam, however if there are any posts in the upstairs walls...you need to transfer the weight directly below these posts from above. So you may need more than 3 posts.
My opinion is to get a professional in to give it a look. They can tell you exactly what you need, and keep you out of harms way.


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