I am new to this forum and am hoping somebody may have an answer. qI have just uncovered a beam down the centre of a 24' wide building. It is a drop beam with a 17' 8" clear span with only the floor above being supported (no roof load) supported at each end by concrete block wall - aprox 4"...

i ripped out my bathroom and found what i was expecting: to enable the layout of fixtures, the previous owners, harm doers, cut large beam holes for plumbing, as a result of which they sagged some over time. they are original 2x10 (the house was built in 1909) and they are 12 ft long (the...