Raising an RSJ by 10mm

[Ian H]

Good idea, I'll try the place where I got them beam.

 

[Ian H]

Ok, the place that got me the beam will sort me out a steel spacer.

Couple of questions:

Should I paint all 6 sides of it with red oxide same as the beam?

How do you professionals level your retro fitted beams? Do you measure from the floor below, long spirit level or use a dumpy level (theodolite?)

Cheers, Ian

 

[mfarrow]

I'm a DIYer. I used a long level, and didn't worry about painting anything.

 

[r896neo]

Its not super critical unless your meeting other steels etc. A long level will do. A rotary laser is the ideal tool but very much overkill for a domestic knock through.

Never measure from the floor for obvious reasons.

 

[noseall]

We would use a 1.2m level.
If the masonry the beam is butting up to is out of level you can lay a bed of mortar on top of the beam before offering it up into position. You can wind it level accurately with a few turns of the jack screw. Make sure you pack as you wind and steady the beam or it may wanna go walkies.

 

[Ian H]

I tried lifting it with one acro each end first and soon realised it wasn't working. I ended up fixing 2 acro's to 8x2 top and bottom and lifting one end at a time with that.

I'll treat myself to a new level and see if I can borrow a laser too.

Thanks again for the tips . I would have never thought of putting mortar on the top, I'd have been trying to trowel it in after.


I used a winch to get the beam up, it worked out pretty well

 

[Ian H]

The spacer:

 

[tony1851]

Concrete padstones usually have a characteristic strength of 50n/mm². Allowing for the required factor of safety, that would probably be down to about 20n/mm². So a 100 x 100 plate could transfer a factored load of up to 200Kn onto the pad (approx 20 tons in old money). This would be well above normal domestic loadings for a beam so a 100 x 100 shim/packer would be fine.

 

[^woody^]

I used a winch to get the beam up, it worked out pretty well

What is that Wallace and Gromit contraption?

I can't understand why you cound not lift it with an acro, and if unloaded a crow bar?

 

[^woody^]

So a 100 x 100 plate could transfer a factored load of up to 200Kn onto the pad (approx 20 tons in old money). This would be well above normal domestic loadings for a beam so a 100 x 100 shim/packer would be fine.

Surely, a steel pad, of the same material as a steel beam, and of the same bearing area dimensions of the flange of the beam above it, will perform exactly the same as the steel flange would?

 

[tomfe]

SOrry i acually read your post....

 

[Ian H]

It's a winch used for re rounding pitch fibre pipes, it would normally sit over a manhole rather than be bolted to a wall.

I had to lift the beam up 5mtrs high and through a hole in the side of the house, not just lifting it from the floor onto the pads.

 

[tony1851]

Surely, a steel pad, of the same material as a steel beam, and of the same bearing area dimensions of the flange of the beam above it, will perform exactly the same as the steel flange would?

Yes, of course it will. It was just a case of raising the beam 10mm. We don't know the actual bearing length of the beam (eg it could have been - say - 200mm), and OP perhaps concerned that a small packer might over-stress the concrete? Dunno?

 

[tony1851]

It's a winch used for re rounding pitch fibre pipes, it would normally sit over a manhole rather than be bolted to a wall.

I had to lift the beam up 5mtrs high and through a hole in the side of the house, not just lifting it from the floor onto the pads.

It looks like something from a medieval torture chamber.

 

[Ian H]

It's a bit of a beast!!! That's just half the frame that you would put over the man hole.

It made very easy work of lifting the beam up.