Tonight was interesting! My wife's grandparents came down to spend the night with us and my daughter wanted to take a picture of all of us, so we huddled together in the middle of the living room floor. Between the 5 of us there was about 800lbs and a few seconds later we hear a loud BOOM and the floor shakes. My first thought was what the heck just broke or snapped down in the basement?! I was thinking beam failure but then when I went down to look I recalled that we have a few adjustable hollow steel support posts in addition to the permanent 6x6 wood posts. There happened to be one directly beneath where we were standing and it had a few inches at the bottom where it was rusted out, so our combined weight on top of it caused the bottom to totally give out and it dropped a couple inches. Right now I can't tell how much the floor went down, or if it did significantly at all. Below are some pictures.
The first picture shows the post as I saw it when I first went downstairs. It was still standing vertically however it was about 1"-2" below the floor joists. I could see the bottom was rusted and had blown out due to our weight.
The second picture shows a view of the pole after I laid it down - badly rusted.
The third picture shows another beam identical to the one that just failed, located parallel to this beam about 8ft over. You can see how bad this one is rusted also yet somehow when the other failed this one remained...for the time being.
The fourth picture shows one of the three main support posts which are 6x6's that go into the floor. The hollow steel supports are just sitting on the basement floor. These seem to be in fair condition and I'm not worried about them. There is also a large chimney in the center of the house which also serves as a main support.
So of course my question is, what do you think I should do? We just bought this house in Dec 09' for $12k knowing that it needed some work. After reading numerous online articles and posts, it seems that most people will just suggest me to 'talk with an engineer'. I respect that advice as it is ultimately the best thing to do. I would also respect any comments you may have on the situation. If you have any other questions about the setup I'd be glad to provide more information. I believe these three hollow steel support posts were put in place for sagging, although I can't say for sure. Thanks for any input.
The first picture shows the post as I saw it when I first went downstairs. It was still standing vertically however it was about 1"-2" below the floor joists. I could see the bottom was rusted and had blown out due to our weight.
The second picture shows a view of the pole after I laid it down - badly rusted.
The third picture shows another beam identical to the one that just failed, located parallel to this beam about 8ft over. You can see how bad this one is rusted also yet somehow when the other failed this one remained...for the time being.
The fourth picture shows one of the three main support posts which are 6x6's that go into the floor. The hollow steel supports are just sitting on the basement floor. These seem to be in fair condition and I'm not worried about them. There is also a large chimney in the center of the house which also serves as a main support.
So of course my question is, what do you think I should do? We just bought this house in Dec 09' for $12k knowing that it needed some work. After reading numerous online articles and posts, it seems that most people will just suggest me to 'talk with an engineer'. I respect that advice as it is ultimately the best thing to do. I would also respect any comments you may have on the situation. If you have any other questions about the setup I'd be glad to provide more information. I believe these three hollow steel support posts were put in place for sagging, although I can't say for sure. Thanks for any input.