Beverly Hills Structural Work for Wider Openings
Beverly Hills structural work for opening a room to the yard, starting in the attic to see whether the ceiling joists also tie the rafters together.
Ceiling joists lapped and nailed over a wall can be doing more than holding up a ceiling. Where those joists run the same way as the rafters in a Beverly Hills house, the lap may complete the tie that stops the roof from spreading its outer walls. Finding that splice in the attic before a wall comes out decides how the new beam is placed and what has to cross it.
Keeping the tie whole
Set below the joists, a dropped beam leaves them uncut, so the lap keeps working as a tie while the beam takes over the support the wall gave. Flush framing changes that. Its pocket cuts the joists and breaks the tie, and the engineer then details metal straps that run across the top of the beam to join the joist ends back together. On some roofs the engineer adds a structural ridge beam with posts down to the foundation, which removes the outward push altogether. Shoring goes up on both sides of the wall before any stud is removed.
From the beam down to the ground
Posts at the beam ends carry its load to new footings, and on a slab floor that means saw-cutting the concrete for a pad sized by the engineer. Over a raised floor, the load passes through solid blocking in the floor framing to a post and footing in the crawlspace. Calculations, beam size and strap details go on the permit set for the city building department, and the beam, straps and footings are inspected before the ceiling is closed. In the written quote, beam, posts, footings and finish repair each show as separate lines, so opening the wall has a visible price.
Structural Work in Beverly Hills: what people ask
The framing answers it. In the attic we see which way the joists and rafters run and whether the joists splice or bear on the wall, and below the floor we look for a girder or footing under it. A wall that carries joists is treated as bearing, and if those joists also tie the rafters, the beam design keeps that tie intact.
Often, if the joists are deep enough to house the beam, with hangers at each joist end. Cutting joists for the pocket breaks any rafter tie they form, so straps across the top of the beam reconnect them, or a structural ridge removes the need for ties. A long span may require a deeper member, and then a dropped beam is the practical choice.
A licensed civil or structural engineer sizes the beam, posts, footings and any straps, then stamps the calculations. Those pages go with the permit set to the city building department for plan review. We build to that design, keep the shoring in place until the beam carries load, and call for inspection before drywall covers the work.
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