RSJ Installation

[Toughie]

Hi,

I've recently had a RSJ installed to enable some bifold doors.

The RSJ sits on a goal post inside the cavity on one side and a pad stone on the other. It has a welded plate to support the outer brickwork.

The welded plate is not sitting directly on the outer brickwork and has had a small steel plate put underneath to fill the gap.

The issue we have is now the builder has bricked up he has had to cut the brick down in height to fit in the gaps.

Is this a common issue or has the steel been installed slightly too high.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[jono_h]

The brick work that the RSJ sits on won’t be perfectly level, so some steel packers underneath to get everything level isn’t unusual.

Ideally the thickness of the welded plate plus any packers would be less than 10mm (the usual thickness of a mortar bed) so it would be invisible. I think they’ve done a pretty good job, and don’t think you’ll notice it in a month.

 

[Toughie]

Thanks Jono, appreciate the response.

We also have a steel coming off the goal post supporting the first floor where we removed a load bearing wall between the kitchen and dining room.

This was installed within the ceiling void with joist hangers and has made our floor have a slight raised point along the route of the steel. we potentially thought the post had been installed slightly too high resulting in the issue with both the first floor and brick pictures above.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Why does the plate stick out flush with the outer skin, it doesn't need to, it could have been set back 20mm or so and still work just fine and the bricks cut to suit if necessary, poor quality design and execution, could easily have been avoided.

 

[noseall]

The brick work that the RSJ sits on won’t be perfectly level, so some steel packers underneath to get everything level isn’t unusual.

Ideally the thickness of the welded plate plus any packers would be less than 10mm (the usual thickness of a mortar bed) so it would be invisible. I think they’ve done a pretty good job, and don’t think you’ll notice it in a month.

We'd have done better. The beam below was bowed upwards by 10-15mm due to the plate weld. We made sure the front lip was set back and cut a shaped piece out of every brick so that it appeared the bricks were level.....

bow beam1.jpg

• noseall
• 24 Jan 2025

bow beam2.jpg

• noseall
• 24 Jan 2025

This big heavy beam had to sit way lower than coursing, so we delicately cut a piece out of the bearing bricks so that it was sunk into it and not noticeable. It had to sit lower because it was carrying a 't' bone beam at right angles to it. Again we set the beam back far enough so that the lip was not visible...

sinkbeam1.JPG

• noseall
• 11 Oct 2025

sinkbeam2.JPG

• noseall
• 11 Oct 2025

sinkbeam3.JPG

• noseall
• 11 Oct 2025

sinkbeam4.JPG

• noseall
• 11 Oct 2025

 

[noseall]

Hi,

I've recently had a RSJ installed to enable some bifold doors.

The RSJ sits on a goal post inside the cavity on one side and a pad stone on the other. It has a welded plate to support the outer brickwork.

The welded plate is not sitting directly on the outer brickwork and has had a small steel plate put underneath to fill the gap.

The issue we have is now the builder has bricked up he has had to cut the brick down in height to fit in the gaps.

Is this a common issue or has the steel been installed slightly too high.

Any help is much appreciated.

See my post below.

 

[Toughie]

Thanks Noseall, that looks spot on and the finish looks perfect.

Attached some further photos where you can see the steel coming off the goal post and a packer on the other side.

As mentioned above steel is flush with outer brickwork also.

 

[cdbe]

You'll need to trim a bit, say 15mm, off the ends of the steel. You could check with the SE but it won't affect it structurally.

 

[noseall]

As mentioned above steel is flush with outer brickwork also.

Fabby's or those measuring and ordering the steel, do make the mistake of forgetting a 15mm set-back. It requires a conversation and a few seconds of thought.