# Question about steel I BEAM in basement



## djohns10 (Feb 23, 2007)

I am new to this site, and looking for a little help.

I am finishing a basement and would like to remove 1 post from the floor support in middle of basement and add a steel beam to carry the load. How do I go about sizing this beam?

This is a single story house. The floor joists are 2*10's on 16" center. The basement is 27' wide, so 13.5' span on each side. I would like to have the beam span 16' Currently the suport for floor joists is from 4 2*10's with 2 sheets of 3/4 plywood in the middle and bolted together. I will be leaving the existing wood suport in place and adding the steel beam under it. I would like to keep the height of the beam to less than 7.5 inches, but I could put 2 beams side by side. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any info
Djohns10


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Have an engineer tell you what your options are to do it right.

He will also give you drawings for a proper new support for the new column you will need.


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

Better yet:

Find a local supplier of steel structural beams and have their engineer do the sizing for you (Much cheaper - they will 99% of the time, give you a break if you are going to buy the beam from them)

There are suppliers in my area that will not even charge you, if you got through them...(it's a 'sale' for them)


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## famlaw3d (Jun 22, 2012)

i have the beam u need 24 feet long 12 inchs wide n 5.5 inchs at the rail


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## CopperClad (Jun 22, 2012)

Your still going to have to have columns under the steel beam to support it.. Then your changing the load bearing position as is right now the footing is underneath your existing post. That would require some jackhammers, bunch of concrete, some rebar, and a good engineer to tell you how wide and deep the footings are to be. Good luck!


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## tony.g (Apr 15, 2012)

Sizing the steel beam is only one part of the problem and, as others have said, a SE can do the necessary calcs, or the steel suppliers themselves.

The other part of the problem is supporting the steel beam at its ends. If it's an existing masonry wall, you would need calcs for the size of padstone for bearing. Alternatively, you could build concrete block piers each end, but these would need to be supported on their own footings,which would need to be correctly sized.


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## CopperClad (Jun 22, 2012)

Tony. Yesterday I replied to the post because it popped up an a new post. It was my first day on this forum.. This thread was from over 5 years ago. LOL hopefully he/she has it figured out by now. ha !


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## tony.g (Apr 15, 2012)

CopperClad said:


> Tony. Yesterday I replied to the post because it popped up an a new post. It was my first day on this forum.. This thread was from over 5 years ago. LOL hopefully he/she has it figured out by now. ha !


Thanks - should've checked first! :icon_redface:


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