Hello everyone,
I need to explain my concerns in more detail. I had requested a quote from a company for a load-bearing 24cm (9.5 inches) interior wall, where a steel beam was supposed to be installed over a 2.4m (7 ft 10 in) wall opening. The quote included an IPE 200 steel beam. However, the small one-man company became ill and was unreachable for an extended period. Due to some time pressure in my home renovation, I independently hired a private mason through classified ads. Yesterday, he installed a 120mm (4.7 inches) HEB steel beam along with an adjacent 11.5cm (4.5 inches) lightweight concrete lintel. The lightweight concrete lintel is load-bearing and contains steel reinforcement. According to him, the 120 HEB alone should supposedly be sufficient. He consulted his “foreman” at work, but without having seen the building plans or any detailed information.
In hindsight, I’m uncertain whether this setup is stable and structurally designed correctly. No structural calculation was included in the original quote, but a master mason spotted on first glance at the building plans that an IPE 200 would be installed.
Now I’m considering removing the concrete lintel myself and installing a second HEB 120 beam. This would theoretically give me 200% safety?
Or would it be better to remove both and have an IPE 200 installed as originally planned?
Attached are pictures from the “construction site.”
In the building plan, the yellow indicates the directions of the precast floor slabs, red is the removed wall, and green is the supporting steel beam plus lintel.
I need to explain my concerns in more detail. I had requested a quote from a company for a load-bearing 24cm (9.5 inches) interior wall, where a steel beam was supposed to be installed over a 2.4m (7 ft 10 in) wall opening. The quote included an IPE 200 steel beam. However, the small one-man company became ill and was unreachable for an extended period. Due to some time pressure in my home renovation, I independently hired a private mason through classified ads. Yesterday, he installed a 120mm (4.7 inches) HEB steel beam along with an adjacent 11.5cm (4.5 inches) lightweight concrete lintel. The lightweight concrete lintel is load-bearing and contains steel reinforcement. According to him, the 120 HEB alone should supposedly be sufficient. He consulted his “foreman” at work, but without having seen the building plans or any detailed information.
In hindsight, I’m uncertain whether this setup is stable and structurally designed correctly. No structural calculation was included in the original quote, but a master mason spotted on first glance at the building plans that an IPE 200 would be installed.
Now I’m considering removing the concrete lintel myself and installing a second HEB 120 beam. This would theoretically give me 200% safety?
Or would it be better to remove both and have an IPE 200 installed as originally planned?
Attached are pictures from the “construction site.”
In the building plan, the yellow indicates the directions of the precast floor slabs, red is the removed wall, and green is the supporting steel beam plus lintel.
This kind of calculation should be done by a structural engineer, not estimated, and then the required steel beams installed. The calculation must include the bearing depths as well as the masonry pressures. No one can say for sure if it will hold here (unless you have a crystal ball), since all information about the load on the lintel is missing, and it is unknown what additional loads may be coming from any floor above.
Verification of the masonry pier, which will carry significantly more load, must also be provided.
So, find a structural engineer and have everything verified; then you can proceed.
Verification of the masonry pier, which will carry significantly more load, must also be provided.
So, find a structural engineer and have everything verified; then you can proceed.
A
ajokr202518 Aug 2025 19:29Is there a structural calculation for the building available? If not with you, then perhaps still at the building authority. Judging by the building plan, the cabin seems to be several decades old; back then, there used to be something like building records.