We have just received some plans from our architect for a single story extension onto the side of our kitchen.
This requires a wall to be moved out and a supporting steel beam to be used to support the house where this wall currently exists. The plans show a requirement for a 325mm x 440mm pier on either side of the span to support the beam, with the piers made of engineering brick. So far, I suspect this is all very familiar.
The problem we have is that this will result in a column on either side of the room, where the pier juts out into the kitchen and, if possible I would like to minimise/remove this.
I've discussed the use of steel pillars instead of using engineering brick piers and this will help as the steel pillars will only need to be 203mm square.
While, this would probably be the best solution for us, I'm concerned that using steel pillars will increase the building costs significantly.
I would appreciate any feedback from experienced builders on whether this is likely to be the case. Does using steel pillars make the job more difficult/complicated? Is any extra cost purely down to purchasing the extra steelwork or is more labour required to install them?
Thanks.
This requires a wall to be moved out and a supporting steel beam to be used to support the house where this wall currently exists. The plans show a requirement for a 325mm x 440mm pier on either side of the span to support the beam, with the piers made of engineering brick. So far, I suspect this is all very familiar.
The problem we have is that this will result in a column on either side of the room, where the pier juts out into the kitchen and, if possible I would like to minimise/remove this.
I've discussed the use of steel pillars instead of using engineering brick piers and this will help as the steel pillars will only need to be 203mm square.
While, this would probably be the best solution for us, I'm concerned that using steel pillars will increase the building costs significantly.
I would appreciate any feedback from experienced builders on whether this is likely to be the case. Does using steel pillars make the job more difficult/complicated? Is any extra cost purely down to purchasing the extra steelwork or is more labour required to install them?
Thanks.