wanting to remove existing support beam and relocating it.

[felix]

I have a wood 8" x 10" beam in my basement that runs the long of my house
about 23' supported by 1 jack post midway through the length of the beam
which is right in the middle of my basement.
I'm wanting to encompass the wood beam with a metal "U" beam to add strength
and then add 2 jack posts at the end of the beam, or bolt plate steel to either side of the existing beam then supporting with 2 jack posts at the end of the beam therefore clearing up my floor space.

My question is ... what thickness must the metal be of in order to have the
necessary strength to support my home?
I have a cottae style home ie. 3 floors .. basement, main floor and upstairs with 3 bedrooms on top and bathroom.

thanks
Felix

[Rich]

First off - posting to multiple forums isn't going to help you much. And as far as your question read this post
http://www.construction-resource.com/forum/ftopic1532.html

[felix]

sorry Rich ...you're right I did post in a few areas of the forum .. I thought with the different admins there might be different inputs .. sorry I'll wait it out .. thanks
Felix

[Rich]

That's alright..
I would love to give you your answer on this - but it'll pretty much be a waste of time as it may or may not reflect actual conditions (if I even come up with an answer :) ). You'll be much better off spending a little money and having an engineer come and look at it.

[felix]

thought about going that route .. guess I'll get a hold of an engineer and have him come in evaluate and get it going ... what type of engineer should I be looking?
thanks again Rich
Felix

[Rich]

Any structural engineer should be able to do the calcs in their sleep. Call a few and give them a rundown on what you have and have them quote a price (faxing it to you would be even better). It gives a place to start anyway.