[mephisto]

I just installed a central vacuum, and the vacuum's company guys drilled a "two and a half inch" hole in my wooden support beam. Is this a problem? I've always heard never to make holes in your support beam, especially larger ones.

The support beam is horizontal, and the pipe/hole is running vertical from the bottom closet, through the beam, to the top closet.

Thanks for any info!

Meph

 

[VIPlumber]

How big is this support beam?

 

[Stillwerkin]

It doesn't sound like it's a support beam anymore.

 

[Ron6519]

I just installed a central vacuum, and the vacuum's company guys drilled a "two and a half inch" hole in my wooden support beam. Is this a problem? I've always heard never to make holes in your support beam, especially larger ones.

The support beam is horizontal, and the pipe/hole is running vertical from the bottom closet, through the beam, to the top closet.

Thanks for any info!

Meph

Post a picture.

 

[Daniel Holzman]

Definitely post a picture. From your description, it sounds like the vacuum folks drilled a vertical 2-1/2 inch diameter hole along the center line of the beam. If this beam is holding up anything significant, like your house, this is bad news. It is possible to drill HORIZONTAL holes through specific regions of support beams, see numerous threads on this forum that discuss notching and holes. However, drilling a vertical hole is a totally different story, since the vertical hole removes material from the edges of the beam, which are the most heavily stressed.

 

[mephisto]

I'll definitely post some photos when I get home tonight.

But here's some more info... I'm inspecting the wood parts that were cut out, and they don't seem to be of "heavy" wood. They're about 1 inch long and the same diameter as the vacuum pipe, but they are very, very light. Even lighter than 2x4 type wood. So maybe this isn't the support beam? Also, this is between the top and ground floor of the house. Aren't support beams normally parallel to the ground?