"Allowable" twist in wood member

[Jc67roch]

A friend of mine (seriously) is a home inspector looking at a solid sawn, heavy timber beam in a house that has a noticeable twist to it. Likely due to shrinkage/drying, but the drywall around it appears fine - no crushing or gaps,etc. So the twist may have developed some time ago, and any drywall damage been repaired. However, the question is what degree of twist or rotation is acceptable or allowed in a wood beam before it becomes of concern? I would swear that I came across a reference some years ago that provided some guidance on this topic - allowable warps, bows, and twists in timber. But I can seem to locate it again - and google searches have not turned anything up either. Any guidance, direction, or references you can provide would be appreciated. A Photo is attached. Thank you.

 

[canwesteng]

I would start by looking up whatever the American equivalent of the NLGA is and seeing if they publish grading standards.

 

[jayrod12]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was installed that way.

 

[dhengr]

Jc67roch:
I’d rotate the door, door frame and casing about 5-6 degrees counter clockwise to match the beam twist. Then the beam twist wouldn’t be so noticeable. The door and its frame are about the only things in your picture which are square and plumb, they are what’s out of place.

I agree with Jayrod12, it looks like it was installed and finished that way, and is doing fine. It would be interesting to see if all of the other framing was cut to fit that twisted beam, at the door jamb for example. Is that why the trim molding exists btwn. the beam and the column? What are the loads on that beam, does a little twist matter, except for appearance sake? That’s the nature of heavy timbers at times.

 

[racookpe1978]

First, go look at top left corner of the beam, using the definition of bottom right being the closest point to the door frame.

If (and this is a big assumption!) the original timber beam were cut cut square and planed with right angled corners, then the top left corner of the beam has a gap between it and any higher level (upper floor) wood load-carrying members. If there are no wood members up there that should be carrying a load but are not, or if there are shims and brackets already in place by the original carpenters, then = no problems structurally.
If there are gaps, or if a structural member has separated, or if a clip or bracket needs to be added, attack that problem first. And, there may be no problem at all at that location.

Bottom right corner is visible, but it is a visual problem only. There might be something behind the drywall that is a structural connection, but that is behind the drywall. Consider trimming the big timber beam to square it up visually: removing a 1/2 inch triangle shape from the corner to make a flat bottom that is parallel with the door frame will not affect the real structural strength of the piece.

Or leave it "as is" as a "feature" ?