New LVL

itsnotrequired

i'm looking to do something similar. see attached photo. basically, want to 'open up' the staircase by removing the door/header on the right as well as the stair wall, from the stringer to the floor joists. plan is to replace with lvl beam. i had the lumber yard size it and two 14" will do the trick, each 14' long. support on each end with three 2x4 and a lateral on the outside that extends from the bottom plate to the double top plate.

to increase headroom, i was looking to cut out the double top plate where the lvl will go, such that the floor joists rest directly on the lvl. i would 'shore up' the double top plate at the ends where it was cut. is this kosher? or should i keep the double top plate in place?

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mae-ling

The question is is that wall a supporting wall? Or did someone just put a header in because that is what they do for every door?
If it is not supporting then no header is needed at all.

itsnotrequired

i presume this is in response to my post?

the 2x4 wall in the photo is the main bearing wall running along the axis of the house. house is one story and at the staircase at least, there is no main floor wall above the stud wall. kind of hard to see in the photo but some of those joists are continuous spans running the width of the house, about 35'. definitely need a header/lintel.

it would seem to me it would be okay to remove the double top plate where the new lvl will go. i could strap the lvl to the existing stud wall at the end for additional stiffness, if needed. i looked at some photos online and it looks like most lvl applications in a header configuration had a double top plate so that is what prompted the question. not sure if it is needed as part of a renovation.