cut floor support beam to make more headroom over stairs

[detroit]

Our stairs didn't pass inspection because there was not enough headroom. so what I'm going to have to do is cut out 5-7 inches of the floor beam over the landing. these are two 2x10's.

however if I cut these, I need a way to strengthen them.... because they are structural.... so is there some sort of steel thing I could nail onto them or something?

thanks,

[Rich]

Yikes :shock: - do you start the top of your stairs with a tread or a riser? If it's a tread - just cut it off and move the stairs back the tread length - done.

[detroit]

something else I should mention.. the inspector found this in the final inspection.... can he even do that?

- he previously approved the framing
- he approved the rough inspection
- he indicated "ok to insulate stairs"
- he indicated "ok to sheetrock"

so he dropped the ball.

a little more research shows i will need to get a structural engineer to draw the cut we make to beam... and this will need to be approved by the city first.
i'm looking at 1-2 months wait HOWL!!!

[Dragon]

Can he correct a previous error?

You betcha.

I'd still make a fuss to a degree though. His error is going to cost you money.

[roger g]

Depending on the situation you can cut the main beam but you must put a post on either side of the cut for support. You can use the posts to hols your handrails at the bottom.
I personally can't see blaming the inspector for a mistake that the carpenter made.( or who ever) I guess you could argue that the mistake should have been caught earlier but it in fact was caught. Are inspectors liable for ANY and Every mistake?
Here is an example: Up here in Canada, in one small area, if you want to put in a septic system, the whole system must have stamped engineer drawings and an engineer must be on site during installation. This is for any and all septic systems. Mega bucks!!
It all started when the local healthe department was responsible for approving all septic systems. This system is pretty much the same in most of Canada, I think. Any ways, this local health department was held responsible for a major screw up rightly or wrongly. The local health department, to prevent this from ever happening again, and to pass the responsibility onto someone other than themselves, decided that engineers would solve the problem. Other adjacent locations with local Health Boards started to do the same thing to protect themselves.
Hmmmmm, and people wonder how some of these rules happened.


roger

[Joe Carola]

Detroit,

Is there a wall above this double 2x10?

Are there 2x10's running perpendicular to this double 2x10 with joist hangers on them?

There's a few options here that you can do.

If you have a wall above the double 2x10 that you have to cut you can remove that double and put it up into the wall making sure it sits on top of the two side doubles of the stairwell opening. Then you can cut back on the perpendicular floor joists and install another double 2x10 far enough back to give you headroom nailing them in with double hangers and single hangers on the perpendicular joists and then install a 2x10 or 2x12 on a flat under the subfloor with angled 2x6's to help support the subfloor.

Joe Carola

[roger g]

Clap, Clap, Clap. Now that was a good idea Joe. I never would have thought of that. The problem is: will I remember it if I ever need it.


roger

[Joe Carola]

Roger,

This happens alot with tight spaces but I blame his framerr for not picking it up before he framed it. Me being a framer I have to know if the stairwell will work or not so when I review a set of plans beofre I get the job or after I get the job it has to be fixed before you frame.

Architects make mistakes but me being the framer and dealing with the GC we have to come up with a solution to fix the problem and sometimes we have to shift walls around or there's been times where that wall above is a closet and raising that header works out great I just did two weeks ago but this one the angled wall was higher than the closet floor so I put plywood down and told the GC that they can nail cleats on the angle and use it for shoes.

When they open the closet door they will see the angle but at least they wont loose the whole closet. You have to make stairs fit so there are solutions. I hope he gives us more information so he can get it to work or better yet tell his framer to get it to work. The framer will probably give the famous excuse that "I Followed the Plans it's not my fault". We'll see.

I have to know if a roof will work out before I frame it instead of framing it first and it not working out and then blaming the Architect. Shame on me if I can't see if it doesn't work.

Joe Carola

[detroit]

wow, amazing, I appreciate the drawing sooo much. I'm having a structural engineer come over this evening, i'll show this to him,

thanks,


the other idea I had was to bolt a thick steel plate on both sides of the two 2x10s and then cut out the 5 inches below.

[Joe Carola]

Detroit,

Which way is this stairwell Framed in the drawing that I have attached, #1 or #2? The red circles indicate the double 2x10 that your talking about.

Joe Carola

[detroit]

Joe, it's framed like #1.

another thing is there is a hallway on the other side of the stairwell so I could put up some support there, i actually need to put a doorway in that hall so I could put in three 2x4s in a row on the wall opposite of the stairwell. this would add strength lost from cutting out the bottom of the 2x10 beams.

there is a small wall above the beam (over the stairwell, just like in your first drawing.

Detroit.