Our cellar is a very humid place and it's been so for nearly a century. I've
recently discovered that all the metal (iron? steel?) beams have rusted so
badly that they've shattered brick, plaster and concrete within a few cm of
each beam. These particular beams apparently support the ground floor hall
way. If I wanted a structural engineer to have a quick look and give me a
written thumbs up or down report, how much money would I be looking at for
such a 15 minute survey?

Secondly, can such beams (they're apparently only 4 or 5 feet long) be
replaced "in situ", or are we looking at major works on the ground floor??

"jan V"  wrote in message 
news:HS0Se.184450$l74.10293278@phobos.telenet-ops.be...

> Our cellar is a very humid place and it's been so for nearly a century. 
> I've
> recently discovered that all the metal (iron? steel?) beams have rusted so
> badly that they've shattered brick, plaster and concrete within a few cm 
> of
> each beam. These particular beams apparently support the ground floor hall
> way. If I wanted a structural engineer to have a quick look and give me a
> written thumbs up or down report, how much money would I be looking at for
> such a 15 minute survey?
>
> Secondly, can such beams (they're apparently only 4 or 5 feet long) be
> replaced "in situ", or are we looking at major works on the ground floor??
>
>
>

The brickwork has shattered because the beams have expanded due to severe 
corrosion. The load carrying capacity of the beams is likely to be impaired 
and should be replaced. This is a relatively easy job, usually just 
requiring the joists to be propped either side of the beam to carry the 
floor loads temporarily. The shattered brickwork should removed and concrete 
spreaders, or engineering brick, built in to provide a secure bearing for 
the new beams. Prestressed concrete lintels are a good subsitute for short 
spans such as this, being relatively cheap and easy to handle. A new treated 
timber wall plate should be installed above the beam to provide support for 
the joist ends (the exact design will depend on the arrangement that exists) 
The supplier should be able to size the lintels correctly. Providing there 
are no other major defects such as rotten joist ends it should be realtively 
easy job. Timber should not come into contact with damp masonry. Is there 
sufficient sub-floor ventilation and can it be improved?

> Is there sufficient sub-floor ventilation and can it be improved?


Thank you very much for the detailed reply. There is no ventilation in the
cellar. Sounds like we're looking at big time expenses here... that's life I
guess.

"Hugh"  wrote in message
news:dfagji$ehs$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

<snip>

Thanks Hugh. Your feedback is much appreciated.

"jan V"  wrote in message 
news:HS0Se.184450$l74.10293278@phobos.telenet-ops.be...

> Our cellar is a very humid place and it's been so for nearly a century. 
> I've
> recently discovered that all the metal (iron? steel?) beams have rusted so
> badly that they've shattered brick, plaster and concrete within a few cm 
> of
> each beam. These particular beams apparently support the ground floor hall
> way. If I wanted a structural engineer to have a quick look and give me a
> written thumbs up or down report, how much money would I be looking at for
> such a 15 minute survey?
>
> Secondly, can such beams (they're apparently only 4 or 5 feet long) be
> replaced "in situ", or are we looking at major works on the ground floor??
>
>For something as potentially serious as this you should get an engineers 
>report anyway, whatever the cost.  It may take him 15 minutes to look at 
>it, but another x amount of hours to do the full report and calculations. 
>Around 300.00 seems to be the norm for this sort of thing, but you can get 
>quotes.

Good luck!
stuart

"jan V"  wrote in message
news:2feSe.184940$eY2.10288282@phobos.telenet-ops.be...

> > Is there sufficient sub-floor ventilation and can it be improved?
>
> Thank you very much for the detailed reply. There is no ventilation in the
> cellar. Sounds like we're looking at big time expenses here... that's life
I
> guess.
>


You're going to need a lot more papier mache, no? :-))

Steve