Load Bearing Pole

T

tysonverge

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I have measured up my basement and my new pool table should fit pretty good except for one pole in the way. I have 60" around the entire table except for where the pole is, i only have 40" of clearance there. I am wondering if anyone here has had a load bearing pole removed from a basement to accomidate a pooltable? I would like to know the process that you have to go through and what the approximate price would be. Im sure that you have to speak to an engineer as the first step but before i do that i need to know what im getting into and if its even worth it?
 
tysonverge said:
I have measured up my basement and my new pool table should fit pretty good except for one pole in the way. I have 60" around the entire table except for where the pole is, i only have 40" of clearance there. I am wondering if anyone here has had a load bearing pole removed from a basement to accomidate a pooltable? I would like to know the process that you have to go through and what the approximate price would be. Im sure that you have to speak to an engineer as the first step but before i do that i need to know what im getting into and if its even worth it?
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seems to me that messing with anything in your house that is "load bearing" is a bad idea, and even if it could be done would be hella hella expensive
 
You could get a reputable local contractor to give you an estimate, he should be able to do the span/load calculation and determine the right size beam, it's not rocket science.
laminated beams are not that expensive and labour costs would depends on your circumstances.
 
You will probobly need a beam to transfer the load to the walls, or some posts closer to the walls. Just a guess $1000-$3000 depending on the span of the beam, and the load it is supporting.
 
tysonverge said:
I have measured up my basement and my new pool table should fit pretty good except for one pole in the way. I have 60" around the entire table except for where the pole is, i only have 40" of clearance there. I am wondering if anyone here has had a load bearing pole removed from a basement to accomidate a pooltable? I would like to know the process that you have to go through and what the approximate price would be. Im sure that you have to speak to an engineer as the first step but before i do that i need to know what im getting into and if its even worth it?
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I did it in a home not a basement and it was a wall and not a pole.. It consisted with first hiring an engineer to check it out and decide if it can be done. Then he designed a beam to span the space and replace the load bearing wall. Once I had the beam it required a lot of jacks in place and installing the beam. When it was done I now had a room that was L shaped The two rooms by themselves were 25 x 12 and 15 x 14. The table extends through the 15 foot opening and lengthwise I have 26' for the length of the table. This has to be done right with proper permits. You could void your home owners insurance making improper alterations to the structure. It cost maybe $3000 for the whole job. A fraction of adding a whole new room although I lost a bedroom. Your job would be certainly different but you may be in luck. When you say load bearing it depends what the load is. It may be nothing more then the floor above and the main structure of the house weight is distributed to the outside walls. You may be ably to move that pole over a foot or so with no problem at all. It may not be holding up much of anything.
 
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If the pole you have in the way is attached on top to an existing load carrying beam, there is the possibility to wrap that beam in steel, thus eliminating the need for the pole. This, too, would require an engineer consult.

Considerably cheaper and safer are the 'shorty' cues designed for use in tight spaces. :p

Best,
Brian kc
 
15 years ago we bought a new house that was closed in but not finished (the basement floor was not yet poured for example, a relevant one). I had the builder move a telepost 3'. He had to replace the 3 x 2x12 beam with an engineered tech-lam beam. It cost me $1000, no doubt twice that now (we're in the middle of a building boom).

Dave
 
As suggested you can reinforce the beam but them you may lose some head space.

I have a pole about 50" away around the center pocket. It is easier to use a short cue or move the CB. It really doesn't come into the game that much and when it does it is no big issue. If you are really serious and the CB is tied up just move whatever balls are involved to give the same situation. Chances are no one will complain, if they do let them pay for the fix.
 
Consult an engineer or get a bid from a contractor.A good contractor can hire an engineer if necessary.Likely it is just basic framing and the contractor wont use an engineer unless building codes require a stamp from an engineer.

Possible solutions are an engineered beam (glue-lam) to cover the entire span,sometimes these will be not much thicker then the original due to the higher strength of the product.Or a larger beam of strait grain wood witch will reduce headroom.Or sometimes you can relocate the post by adding 2 posts that allow a shorter beam to span the area.

My advice is the get 2 or 3 bids from a general contractors and go with the 1 who does the best work.
 
i have the same situation in my basement and i just deal with it, it's not so bad.
i have looked into removing the support post, and the best and fairly cheap solution is installing "flitch plates" to both sides of the beam. two matching steel plates pre-drilled properly to fit the size of the beam. an engineer can tell you the thickness you will need.
 
First I have a few questions? Is your basement finished already and can you see the beam the pole is holding and the other load points of the beam? I removed the pole in my basement a few months ago. My basement was not finished so I could see the I-beam throughout my basement and I could also see the 4 points of load that the beam was resting on. My pole was only holding a span of about 22 feet from one load point to another. So directly next to the I-beam I set 3 micro lam 2x12's (glued and lagged together) and set new posts for the micro lams to set on back in the walls next to the existing I-beam posts. 3 micro lams and 2 posts cost me about $350, My father and I did it ourselves since he has done construction all his life. I measured from the floor to the beam every week for 3 months now and no movement at all.
 
I have a similar problem, I was thinking of putting another beam the same size under the one already there, support the ends with poles and make the original center pole removeable and put another pole just out of the way. That way I could remove the original make the shot and put it back right away. If it didn't happen very often it should not be too big of a hassle. I have a friend that is an engineer and if I can get him over here next week I'll check with him.
 
The easieat way would be to run a beam in the ceiling from wall to wall. When I bought my house the previous owners had removed one beam and reinforced the support by the wall. I had a contactor come over and look at the second beam. He did not feel it was a problem if it was removed. He started by cutting the center out of the 4 x 4 post. He cut the post down until there was only a small tooth pick size piece of wood in the center. Obviously the post wasn't holding much weight and we remove the post. This was done over 7 years ago and my kitchen is still upstairs and haven't had any problems. The two posts were located between the two pool tables.
 

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You got any pics of the beam and pole? What kind of house do you have. What kind of load is on the beam now? What's the beam made of, what it's size/type? What's the support spacing now? Is the ceiling, basement finished off? Do you have any experience in construction, any friends with experience? What's your budget for a project like this? As you can see, there's a lot of questions you have to answer before you get the answer.

tysonverge said:
I have measured up my basement and my new pool table should fit pretty good except for one pole in the way. I have 60" around the entire table except for where the pole is, i only have 40" of clearance there. I am wondering if anyone here has had a load bearing pole removed from a basement to accomidate a pooltable? I would like to know the process that you have to go through and what the approximate price would be. Im sure that you have to speak to an engineer as the first step but before i do that i need to know what im getting into and if its even worth it?
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Here's a suggestion but consult an engineer. Measure the distance from the floor to the ceiling on both sides. So afterward you can check to see if there is any settling.
Depending on the span, get a steel I beam. The span and the weight above will determine the size of the I beam (6,8 inch etc.). Put a screw post jack on either end. Get 2 steel flat plates to put on the floor for the posts to sit on, get a size plate that's big enough to distribute the weight that will be put on each post, so the floor doesn't crack. Put the I beam right next to the post your taking down. Have the replacement I beam up snug to the ceiling. But not super tight. Take out the post. Then tap the I beam to the exact location that the original post was, a lttle at a time. Going from one post to the other. Then tighten the posts in position.
Once the I beam is in position and tightened, put a wood 2x4 on either side of the I beam on screw it to the ceiling so that you know the I beam won't move either way. Use what ever length 2 x 4 's you need to cross at least 3 joists. Cut an 8 foot 2x4 in half and that should cover 4 joists, if they are 16 inches on center.
Again this is just a suggestion, consult an engineer and a contractor. But this will give you ideas to ask them about.
 
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Contact a local Professional Engineer and have them look at it. Chances are there is something that can be done to solve your issue. The solution will be done right. It will be done to code and it will be safe for your family.

The main thing is that you do not want to do something that could be structurally unstable under load. You can stiffen up a beam to transfer the load across the span and this will hold up the floor above and whatever is on it. However, there are other issues that need to be looked at also. Is the footer/foundation adequate to take the load once you transfer it over?
What about unbalanced snow load if you a living in an area that gets a lot of snow?

Wind load and earthquake loads must also be considered if you start to remove supporting columns. A beam can be stiffened and work fine under normal conditions but under an earthquake or high wind the building will be loaded differently and that beam could fail. If it is in the wrong location the structure could fall in on itself.

Again, the main thing I am getting at is have a Professional Engineer take a look at it. It will probably be a simple fix but there are a lot of issues that need to be looked at that are very important. It is cheap insurance, and you will be able to sleep at night knowing that the person who came up with the support structure holding up your house is qualified legally and technically to do the work.
 
Load bearing wall

I had an old house that had a half basement and the other have was dirt floor which was converted to concrete. So I had a load bearing wall to work out. What I did was get a friend contractor over to advise me. We shored up the upper floor with 2x2 post and removed about 20' feet of wall. (Or should I say I removed about 20 feet of wall, pretty tuff) Then I bought an I-beam too fit the span. We raised the I-beam and used floor jacks to hold the I-beam up.

It can be done. I didn't even have any plaster to crake. My room was void of sand traps such as pools or walls. This was in about 1987 or so and it cost about $300 to $400 for the I-beam and a couple cnotes to my friend. Looking back I would not do it any mainly because like most home pool rooms they really don't get a lot of play.


Hope that helps,

EZ
 
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