Basement support question.....

jasongilliland

Hello, I own a 60 year old home that is roughly 900 sq ft. and I am preparing to finish my basement. I am going to build a wall straight down the middle of the basement. I have 3 support beams/poles that look like tree trunks that are splitting. I want to replace these beams but I have read that it is not a permanent solution to use the metal telescoping floor jack supports. What type of support should I use to replace the current ones? Is it ok to use 4 x 4's or 6 x 6's? I would like to hide these supports in the wall and want to make sure I do everything right and as safe as possible. Thanks!!

Steeler99

I woudln't use 4x4s, that's for sure...6x6s would probably work, but don't go by what I say with that, they may be too small too. Unfortunately you haven't provided enough information to answer your question. I would call a struct engineer and have him size them for you. This can be done very cheaply, I'd imagine you can get one to do the simple calcs for a couple of hundred bucks.

But to answer your question, they would need to know the total span of the beam, the peremeter dimensions of your house, how many floors it is, etc. They don't have to do drawings or anything, just write a simple letter and provide you with a detail or two...it would be worth the investment in my opinion.

jomama45

Just to clear up what can often times lead to confusion, the metal 2 piece telescoping posts are rarely labeled or accepted by code to be used permanently. What can be used permanently, and are readily available cost about the same and are probably even easier to work with, are one piece adjustable columns.

Take a look at the link to distinguish the difference between the two:

http://www.octoberhome.com/articles/...ustcolumn.html

jasongilliland

Thanks for the quick responses. The single piece adjustable columns look promising. I wonder if these are available for purchase at stores like home depot and lowe's? I will check. Thanks again.

jasongilliland

Would these work? http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/pro...rce=GoogleBase

Thanks!

jomama45

That "should" do the trick, but technically you would need to verify that the load capacity (14K for that one) is sufficient and the top plate covers the entire beam width.

jasongilliland

Thanks, I will check the width of the beam.