A visit to my local lumber supplier to purchase LVL beams to replace some load bearing walls where the studio will be.
Going shopping
A few weeks ago I brought in a general contractor for some initial consultation on what it would take for me to move two load bearing walls out of my way. The Basement is new construction, but there are several framed walls that are already in place sitting on underground footer beneath the floor and are helping to hold the house up. This includes two walls that are in the space where the studio will be.
After providing a materials list he recommended a local lumber supply company that has these items on hand and could deliver them right away. I called and the company was great. After doing some quick price checking with a couple local big box suppliers, I called the recommended supplier back and placed an order for (2) 11 7/8" x 20' LVL beams and (2) 9 1/2" x 10' LVL beams.
My new LVL beams are out there somewhere
The beams run directly under the ceiling joists taking the place of the load bearing wall and will rest on a few columns of (3) 2x4 studs (trimmers) grouped together on each end of the beam. The beams take all the same weight of the load bearing wall, distributing the weight across the entire beam system and transferring the load down the trimmer columns on each end down to and then through the floor to the 1' thick by 2' deep concrete footings underneath the 3" concrete floor. The footings at this part of the basement are perpendicular to the ceiling joists. This means the beam will have to drop down and sit underneath the joists giving me a 12" x 3.5" beam running across the studio overhead that I will need to creatively conceal.
Using two LVL beams side by side, (resting on groups of 3 vertical 2x4 stud trimmer columns), allows me to remove the load bearing wall. The weight of the house above (currently resting on the wall), will be distributed along the side by side beams and will transfer down the vertical trimmer columns to the 3" concrete floor and underground 1' x 2' concrete foundation footings. Using the beams will open up the room nicely and the addition of the new — soon to be built — front and side walls will add even more support for the floor above than this original framing/floor layout has been providing. Win/Win!
If the footings were running parallel with the wall I could have set the beams up into the joists and hidden the beams. Unfortunately, not the case here. But a beam dropping down a little is much better than having a wall right in my mix position.
If the load bearing walls in the studio area were running parallel to the joists, I could have tucked the double LVL beams up into the ceiling joists (like these already located in a different part of my basement ceiling). I’ll have to be creative with how I hide the beam, but I have some ideas brewing.
They’re here!
The LVL beams arrived. I feel like I should have a ground breaking ceremony or a mini celebration of some sort to mark the first of many building materials to arrive. Well, enough of that. Now back to work.
Beams are here and ready to move to the basement! Even after several verifications of my of order the lumber supply company made a mistake. I had ordered two of the 11-7/8" x 20' (which they got right) and (2) of the 9-1/2" x 10'. Looks like they decided to send the two 10 footers I requested as a single 20 footer. Not the end of the world because I can easily cut the beam back down into 2 pieces.
With one of my wrists in a brace recovering from an injury, I was able to rope three willing participants to come help me move the beams into the basement. Pictured in front is multiple Emmy Award winning director/animator Justin Knowles. He is the director/animator for all the 3D/4D motion ride films I create music, sound effects and surround mixes for. Extra points for sandals! Jacob Fenn (back) is one of the most knowledgable and technically capable creatives I know. A self-proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades in the audio and visual worlds, Jacob has more skill in most areas than one person should be allowed to have.
Probably couldn’t have asked for a more direct path into the basement. So far, everything is going smoothly!
Ben Jenkins (great last name and happens to be my brother), is owner/operator of Wodobo where he is a web site building ninja. He builds sites for businesses but also teaches businesses to design and build sites so they can have more agility/creative control and save a ton of money over time. He also happens to be a social media marketing and user experience expert and just “gets” how people think when they use social media and mobile devices. Nice to have him around to lend a hand. Well, actually, both hands.
Yep, that’s it for now.
Thanks guys! Everything went very smoothly and I’m pumped for the next step.
Next step
I’ve been researching the best 2x4 studs to use and what length to use etc and now I’m ready to buy the studs, start building some walls (possibly in 3 days), and put up some additional temporary joist supports so I can safely cut out the load bearing wall and put the beams in place.
