Steel Roof Support Beams

This article describes and illustrates the different types of support that prevents roof sagging and wall bulging at buildings including definitions of collar ties rafter ties and structural ridge beams.

Steel roof support beams. The beam supports 17 2x6 joists. A built up beam is easiest to handle because you can assemble it near its final destination but making one involves a little more labor. You can also build up a 3 inch wide beam without spacers. See beam and column bearing plate.

Steel is cheaper than wood in most cases and it can handle a load much better but steel beams must usually be cut off site and trucked into a location whereas wood beams can readily. A steel plate that is set on top of a masonry support on which a beam or purlin can rest. Often used as the end frame of an i beam building. A wide variety of steel roof support beams options are available to you such as graphic design others and n a.

A structural system consisting of a series of rafter beams supported by columns. Extra costs apply for knocking down walls rerouting utilities or adding underpinnings for support. Colorbeam light structural roof beams give you the good looks of timber plus the strength and durability of steel with the advantage of a low maintenance finish. Some of these can support the roof and prevent ridge sagging and wall spreading.

Steel can hold significant amounts of weight and it can carry a load across a large area meaning a roof supported by steel beams can be much wider or longer than other types of roofs. And the last joist which is 15 o c. But unlike timber colorbeam won t twist warp or rot and doesn t need painting making it ideal for home improvements. Typically you ll see beam sizes called out in numeric form like 8x17.

For all except the last two on the north side of the terrace which are 20 5 o c. Steel support beams for residential construction costs 100 to 400 per foot to install or between 1 200 and 4 200. In highly visible areas a single solid beam generally looks better. Structures that use steel roof beam construction usually have flat roofs but some smaller structures may have a peaked roof.

The joist spacing is 24 o c. If there is also a beam in the middle of the roof divide the total load by three. But you can get 8 inch tall steel i beams that weigh over 35 pounds per foot. This is a very common size found in many residential homes.

If our example roof has only one beam it must carry half of the total load or 4 000 pounds. I would like to replace the existing wood beam and posts with steel. If one side of the roof is supported by the house and the other side is supported by the beam divide the total load by two as the beam is only supporting half of the roof. The joists are holding the usual 4x8 plywood sheets for the shingle roof.

Usually this means the steel beam is very close to 8 inches tall and weighs 17 pounds per linear foot.