replacing rotten beam

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2 Feb 2008
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Location
Wiltshire
Country
United Kingdom
I have a main supporting beam (downstairs) which has a little rot in one end. The beam is about 14 and a half feet across and I was wondering if there were any way that I can replace a part of it, namely the last 4 feet that is supporting the staircase! or do I have to replace the whole beam. If so, is it better (as this is a 300 odd yr old house) to replace with an RSJ? Appreciate any advise!
 
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You can do a repair, and the whole beam does not have to be replaced - unless the rot is likely to affect more of it

You can splice a timber section into the beam and add a central steel plate (if the beam is visible and the repair needs to be hidden) or two side plates (if the repair will not be seen).

In any case you will need this designed by a suitable person
 
Thanks Woody,

I am sure that this will sound extremely dumb, but I am new to the area and don't know who to approach. Am I looking for a carpenter? a structural engineer? a builder?
 
It depends on the extent of the rot.

If its significant, then the solution should be designed (loadings, materials, fixings etc) and it will require someone able to do the calculations - such as a structural engineer.

A knowledgeable and experienced carpenter or general builder may be able to devise something from experience, but its the difference between what he thinks may be OK and what is OK. He may not be able to prove by calculation that the repair is adequate.

But the solution may just be an additional timber bolted to the beam, which a carpenter or builder could assess and do easily

Out of interest what caused the rot, and has the cause been rectified?
 
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I am not sure what has caused the rot, but there are no 'Bug holes'! As I said the place is over 300years old I was assuming that it was just very old timber. I have arranged for somebody to take a look at that next week. There was a certificate when I bought the place for some wood treatment that was done about 15 years ago. The rot does not look 'new' if rot can look new? and I am not sure if was this area that was treated then so it was weak anyway?
Thanks again for your help, a Structural Engineer it is then!
 

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