huangyhg

8 foot span, brick supporting?
i am currently attempting to turn two existing doors in a house into a single cased opening. the new span will be 8 feet wide. the doors are in a brick, former exterior, wall in a three story, 100 year old house. i have consulted a structural engineer who drew up plans which include an 8" beam with gusseted brick ledge, to sch. 40 columns to hold the beam, adjustable jacks to support the ceiling joists, and two temporary angled beams to support the 2 stories of brick overhead.
when i spoke with an engineer at the company where i am ordering the steel, he said the brick will support itself, especially if the beam is put in immediately. he claims i don't need the two temporary supports. is this foolish? i am not trying to half-ass this job, but i don't want to do anything unneccesary. i can provide more details if needed. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks a lot.

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do you think the engineer from the steel supplier would stand under the brick while the support is removed? i wouldn't. it's a hundred years old, who knows what happened to the mortar, or to the bricks themselves, in that time.
you may not need a steel temporary support... two storys of brick weighs maybe 800 plf. that could be spanned with a wood beam; a triple 2x12 would work nicely, and could be reused later, or become firewood.

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