Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
(OP)
A contractor asked me if he could offset the beam in the basement about 4" so it is not directly under the 1st story load bearing wall. The reason he asks is that he wants to run his plumbing down the wall but if the beam is directly under the wall he can't. He said he always ends up building basically a 2x8 wall so he can run his plumbing down and have it pass besides the beam.
So the load bearing wall would sit on the floor joists about 4" away from the beam. Would I need to just add a point load at this location to the floor joist and see if it works or are there other things I need to be thinking about?
So the load bearing wall would sit on the floor joists about 4" away from the beam. Would I need to just add a point load at this location to the floor joist and see if it works or are there other things I need to be thinking about?






RE: Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
In that the NDS allows uniform loads to be ignored a distance "d" from the end of the joist, you will still need to consider this as it is a point load to the joists.
However, usually shear will not control for the initial sizing, so, at only a 4" offset, this should work. Do the math.
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
RE: Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
RE: Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
1) If it's a transferred shear wall, there would be additional things to worry about.
2) Your single, sometimes spliced, bottom plates now span between floor joists if the joists and studs do not align.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.
RE: Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall
RE: Offsetting basement beam from 1st story load bearing wall