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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStamped engineet Report March 6, 2019 Mr. Bill Brosius William Gordon Group 2371 Glebe St Carmel, IN 46032 Re: Limited Structural Evaluation – Visual (Revised 03/06/2019) Garage Ceiling Beams Bearing/Foundation Evaluation 10638 Knight Drive Carmel, IN 46032 CE Solutions’ Project No: 19-105 Dear Bill: We have completed our structural evaluation for the referenced property. A visual inspection of the property was performed by Atallah M. Sayegh, P.E. on February 14, 2019 at your request. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate the existing wood beams bearing on wood supports and on the existing foundation located in the garage space. It is our understanding that new LVL and Parallam beams were added and installed a few years ago in the garage ceiling to help support the deflecting second floor I-joists which are directly above the garage. CE Solutions’ structural evaluation was restricted only to the portion of the exposed wood beams in the garage and was based solely on visual observation. No structural instrumentation, monitoring, testing or analysis was performed. The following is a summary of our findings and recommendations: EXISTING CONDITIONS AND OBSERVATIONS The property is located at the intersection of Kings Mill Drive and Knight Drive in Carmel, Indiana. The building is a brick two story wood single-dwelling with an attached 3-car garage. The residence was built in 1995. Original / record construction documents (drawings and specifications), shop drawings and other pertinent construction records for the existing residence are not available. Below are our observations of the framing system at the area of area being investigated: 1. There are two wood beams that are bearing at the corner wall between the two garage openings. It is our understanding that these two wood beams in addition to another beam were installed in the garage ceiling to help support the second floor. 2. The 16”, 3 ½” wide dropped wood beam running north-south is bearing on a 3 ½”x5 ½” wood post at the north end between the single and double garage door openings. The north bearing end of this wood beam bears 1 ½” on the wood post. We believe that this beam was added below another existing beam to help support the exterior wall above and the low/high roof framing. It appears that the north bearing end of 1 ½” on the wood post may not be sufficient and requires additional bearing area. Limited Structural Evaluation – Visual (Revised 03/06/2019) Garage Ceiling Beams Bearing/Foundation Evaluation 10638 Knight Drive, Carmel, Indiana William Gordon Group| 03.06.19 | Page 2 3. The 18” 4 ply LVL (7” wide) dropped wood beam running east-west is bearing on a 3 ½”x8 ½” wood post at the west end between the single and double garage door openings near the same location as the 16” beam. The west bearing end of this wood beam bears 2” on the wood post. It is our understanding that this beam was added to support another wood beam in the garage ceiling. It appears that the west bearing end of 2” on the wood post may not be sufficient and requires additional bearing area. 4. It appears that the posts for both of these beams fall within the existing exterior stud wall space at the corner as can be seen in the attached photos. The limited investigation performed on site showed that the 3 ½” x 8 ½” post (supporting the 18” LVL beam) is bearing on the existing wood sill plate which we believe is bearing on the existing foundation wall. OPINION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The following are our opinion and recommendations: 1. It appears that the end bearing at both of these two wood beams on the wood posts may not be sufficient and requires additional bearing area. We recommend that at the 16” deep, 3 ½” wide beam adding a new 2x6 vertical stud under the beam and connecting it to the existing 3 ½”x 5 ½” wood post. The new 2x6 stud needs to be connected to the 5 ½” face of the post. At the 18” deep , 7” wide beam, we recommend adding a new 2x8 vertical stud under the beam and connecting it to the existing 3 ½”x8 ½” wood post. The new 2x8 stud needs to be connected to the 8 ½” face of the post. The connection of the new 2x face stud to the face of post can be accomplished by using ¼”x3 ½” Simpson Heavy Duty SDS Screws (or equivalent) with 2 ¼” minimum thread length into the post. Screws need to be at 8” on center alternated along the height of the post. 2. Currently, the beams are nailed to the top of the posts. We recommend adding post caps at both of the 16” and 18” deep beams in order to secure the beams to the posts and to provide further stability for the beams. Simpson post caps LCE4 or equivalent can be used for this existing condition. Shims will be required on the side of the beams to provide a flush connection. See Simpson attachment. 3. We also recommend conducting further investigation by removing the base board and gypsum board at the base of the wall corner in order to verify that the posts bearing on the existing wood sill plate are bearing on the foundation wall and not on the slab on grade. In closing, please note that no engineering analysis was performed to verify the capacity of the existing structural members and that our structural evaluation of the referenced project was limited strictly to those items identified in this report and to the extent noted. Should unforeseen deficiencies exist (structural or non-structural); they are beyond the scope of this structural condition assessment. Should you have any questions or wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. Thank you for choosing CE Solutions for your structural engineering needs. Limited Structural Evaluation – Visual (Revised 03/06/2019) Garage Ceiling Beams Bearing/Foundation Evaluation 10638 Knight Drive, Carmel, Indiana William Gordon Group| 03.06.19 | Page 3 Very truly yours, Steven P. Osborn, PE, SE Atallah M. Sayegh, P.E. Principal / President Senior PE Attachments: Photographs Simpson Post Caps Floor Plan provided by William Gordon Group NORTHAREA OF CE SOLUTIONS, INC.INVESTIGATION