Replacement of oak beam

[nonbuilder]

We have a oak beam on the ground floor which is cracked and bent. It supports a brick wall in the upper bedroom (or is meant to - there is now a 1 inch gap between the bottom of that wall and the floorboards!). We are going to replace this with a steel beam.

Currently one end of the beam is sitting atop / on the chimney breast - and does not enter into the party wall. The structural engineer has provided calculations - and says our new steel beam needs to start in the party wall.

I'm going to serve a party wall notice to the owners of the adjoining property. Is there anything else I require - I'm not entirely sure what "Building Regs" are and whether I need to apply for them first? Do I have a case for reporting this as a "Dangerous Structure" and obtain a Dangerous Structure Notice (given the currently unsupported brick wall in the bedroom - 1 inch gap - two meters long) - which would allow me to proceed without a P.W.A. which given the adjoining owner is the local authority will probably take more than the statutory two months to process.

 

[ree]

Take it easy with any notifications and PWA's, be also cautious about entering the world of "Dangerous Structures". First establish exactly what is to be done and why its to be done.

For example: the steel bearing end might not have to enter the party wall, maybe a short nib of brickwork can be built out to take the weight?

Who has advised you so far?

Do the first floor joists rest on the oak beam?

Could you post pics showing the full length of the beam, and detailed pics of either end of the beam?

 

[bernardgreen]

If the oak beam was adequately supported by the chimney breast when the building was built then the chimney is capable of carrying the load.

What is probably happening is that the weight of the steel beam is more than that of the oak and this extra weight requires more support.

Have you any reason to change to steel rather than installing a replacement oak beam. There are many disadvantages in using steel to replace oak.

 

[AronSearle]

You also need to allow for shrinkage in the oak beam, not a problem if you know what to do. likely you have an engineer familiar with steel, so sticks to what he knows.