joist hanger in breezeblock

[purplemonkey]

hi all,

I have a bit of a conundrum here, I need to add a supporting beam to an existing bit of my building. on one side I have timber, the other side is breezeblock (not sure what type?) I am wondering what the best method of attaching the beam to this breeze block wall will be? This is near the top of the block wall too, and the wall isn't level its angled.

1. Bolt (resin or compression) a member then add joist hanger to this member?
2. screw (nail?) a joist hanger directly to the breeze block?
3. cut out a hole in the breeze block and sit the beam on the block directly?

out of all of these number 2 is the easiest for me to complete, but I don't know if it will be strong enough, or compliant?

cheers.

 

[dann09]

If i understand you: you have to span between a studded wall on one side and a "breeze block" wall on the other?

Can you be more specific as to what blockwork you actually have - perhaps a pic?

Usually, if you take this route, the beam/ledger is bolted onto it's backing, and joist hangers etc. are then pinned on to the beam.

I'm assuming that we're talking about ceiling joists being supported by the beam?

 

[purplemonkey]

i will try and get a pic hopefully tomorrow.

the stud wall is actually a wooden beam holding up a timber framed wall above it.

the beam I'm putting in is to offerup more/better support to one end of a shallow pitch roof which currently has terrible timber support.

I would prefer not to have to bolt a member to the blockwork for just this one hanger, but if its the only/best way then I will.

 

[dann09]

There seems to be a little more than meets the eye here - nothing wrong with that, but we can help you better if we have a fuller picture of what you are doing and how it got to be this way?

Maybe, post pics of both sides of the span and the roof underside.

Do you have a wall plate on top of the block wall?

Is the roof covering felt or tile?

 

[purplemonkey]

here are the pics. it shows both sides of where I want to place the new beam. from this beam I will place one maybe two more small joists perpendicular. This structure will offer support to the flat wood you can see being held up by the acro props.

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• purplemonkey
• 22 Apr 2013
• 1

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• purplemonkey
• 22 Apr 2013
• 1

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• purplemonkey
• 22 Apr 2013
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[chickenlips]

I would say the best method would be to make a pocket in the blockwork for the beam to sit into.

Std masonry hangers need 675mm of blockwork above for it to work properly. You could use SFHW hangers from Simpson Strong Tie, they require no blockwork above.

Simpsons have a really good tech support, so you could give them a ring.

 

[purplemonkey]

hi, thanks for the suggestion, when you say make a pocket in the blockwork would I just drill a series of holes and chisel out the hole, what kind of depth should I achieve?

I've used simpson before and you're right the sfwh does look like it could do the job, although I still need to get to the top of the block which as you can see from the photo is tricky.

 

[pinenot]

The direction of the timber roof covering is running side to side, for what it's worth I wonder whether there is any problem running a rafter or two end to end, say in the middle of the roof lights (I am making an assumption from those pics, that there are more than one) this would allow you to bridle some cross beams into the position you have indicated. I know this is not a build, rather a repair, but this is how it would be done though, if it was to be built, for what it's worth...pinenot

 

[purplemonkey]

I didn't go into the detail earlier of what I'm looking to achieve here, but the beam I am placing will act as an end beam for the current rafters and I will run new short rafters/joists to the adjacent wall to support the boards you can see in the pictures. hope that makes sense?

there is currently 4 rafters butting up to the small beam you see in the image then the weight is carried onto these boards, they were originally held in place by two hefty nails?! hence the acro-props and repair works

 

[pinenot]

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• pinenot
• 23 Apr 2013
• 1

Sorry I've revamped it a little...pinenot

 

[chickenlips]

The pocket would have to be a full 100mm so the beam has a full bearing.
A series of holes and then chiseling out would be fine, as would angle grinding then chiseling.

The SFWH will work with some blockwork above, however I appreciate they are not the easiest to get in wtihout a lot of messing.
The hanger also does not have to be the full depth of the beam which may help with positioning the hanger onto blockwork.

 

[purplemonkey]

hi pine, I'm afraid I can't figure out your drawing.

think I'm going to go with the block pocket, it seems the most straight forward solution considering the wall I'm working with.

its either that or I'm tearing the whole thing down and replacing everything up there....