26' Steel I Beam

Joe Carola

Daniel,

Have you ever spec'd a rectangular piece of steel like this? Or, is it called a tube steel?

I did a job six years ago where we had to take out the back wall of the house that was supporting the second floor and rafters. The owner wanted to have a flush beam in their. Existing joists were 2x10's and there was a 10' addition off the back of the house with 9-1/2" I-joists going into the other side of the steel.

Engineer recommended this 22' clear span 8" x 22" rectangular piece of steel. They welded angle iron on each side for the existing joists and new I-joists to sit on.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Joe Carola

dtsman

Used steel headers in residential construction many times.

The company that makes the the beam should have the specs. Tell them the length you need and an estimate of the weight it will hold. Double up on the weight part of the calculation and you will have what you need. No one here is going to be able to quote exactly what you need for such a custom application. The steel dealers in your area will.
More things do come into play as well. As argued above.


Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

jjohnson112

Thanks guys for your input. The steel dealer wouldn't supply the information for me at no cost even if I bought the beam from them. I've gotten in touch with an Engineer and I'll let you know the outcome.

Daniel Holzman

Joe, the shape you show in the photo is now called HSS (hollow steel shape). It used to be referred to as tube steel. Typically the steel comes in rectangular and circular tube shape, with a variety of standard wall thicknesses available. HSS is very useful for a variety of applications, but is not as efficient as W or S shapes when loaded purely in bending.

Anti-wingnut

I have been around engineers most of my working life, and I fully agree with Daniel Holzman. I don't understand the adversarial relationship some trades think they must foster with engineers. When you understand what they are trying to accomplish, and to the professional and design standards their designs are held to, then you will start to understand that the vast majority are engineering structures the way they have to.

While it is true that many lumber yards can supply fully documented engineered wood products at no or little additional charge, they must be given correct drawings of the structure to base their calculations on. Site visits without a hefty additional charge are unlikely. In a remodel situation, there may be no drawings reliable enough for any engineer to base beam size upon, and a site visit becomes a necessity

Anti-wingnut

We're still dinosaurs out in the field. Everyone I know would still refer to that as (for instance) a "8"x22" x 1/2" square tube" And round shapes are pipe if they truly are IPS (iron pipe size) and mechanical tubing if they are not IPS

Joe Carola

What I didn't mention before was that piece of steel is not a perfect rectangle. The outside measured 8" and the middle was 8-3/8" . I put a framing square on it and notice the middle top and bottom was raised. You can see it in the picture if you look closely.

__________________
Joe Carola

Anti-wingnut

It easy to see that it's beat up. That is common, from shipping, handling and torching

jjohnson112

I went to an engineer today and found that I'll be able to use a W12x26 very easily. It would actually be possible to use a W10 if I wanted, but chose to stay with a W12 for good measure. 12' long 4x12's for the other 2 beams connecting to the house.