Home Improvement Today?

The plan was to check the crawl space after drilling a small hole to orient.

My thinking was that they were purely decorative but it seems that now knowing they went in after the floor confirms that the structure does not require them for any load. I can’t know for certain if there is a metal pole inside without destructive removal.

there is some small concern that the catwalk above might have joists sistered but I can’t see how anyone would install a floor before completing all the structural work. That seems like the clear tell.

 

can be if there are squash blocks same size as floor joists directly transferring weight to a foundation or column below

 

OG or previous reno?
if latter, could be

 

Cleaned out dryer vent of about 16' in total length with one 90 degree turn. I picked up a vent cleaning kit from Amazon. Worked great! Man, there sure was a lot of lint in the dryer vent! First really good cleaning
in 38 years we've been in this house. Kit included a 4" rotating brush and several flexible extensions that hook up to my drill. Also ordered a new gas dryer. I think the old one gave up the ghost because of all the crap
plugging up the exhaust line.

 

Floor is original build, 1980.

I’ll check out the crawlspace next.



I guess it’s possible for a wood floor to transfer load then? I would have assumed otherwise since I’d have assumed all structural work would be completed prior to floor installation.

 

take a stud finder to the underside of the projecting walkway up top and try to determine how that is supported

 

Looks like 2x lengthwise along the catwalk. I think I’m detecting 4x at the corner where the 2nd post is. That’s the one which concerns me most. The post in the center of the catwalk could be eliminated and the biggest risk would be saggy catwalk?

Large beam at the attic which is where I assume load is spread.

 

Could be a 4 ply beam carrying a 2 ply and the post is decorative under that connection (like a stairwell framing is headed off)

needs more investigation below that connection

I assume that wall at backside of walkway is stacked bearing walls due to the step down in the floor ?

 

I as well assume the load is through that wall from hallway/primary closet through catwalk and then through wall below at split level on the first floor.

But there is a definite joist parallel with the catwalk under the decorative beams based on nails in 2x6 T&G subfloor.

I’ll grab some photos from the crawlspace.

Perhaps irrelevant but knocking on the two posts gives very different sounds. The center catwalk post sounds hollow and disconnected while the other one feels more connected. And yet we do have cracking in the drywall just to really muddy the water.




^^ That’s my mark for reference.

 

View from the crawlspace. The posts are fairly off the joist. I don’t see how they could possibly carry significant load. I’m certain they were installed with the original 1980 build and on top of the finished floor.

 

If I recall correctly, bearing walls or columns can be offset up to 24" and still sufficiently transfer the load down. Just because they aren't perfectly lined up doesn't mean it isn't structural.

 

I'm probably way off but here's my best guess at how it's framed.



That would explain the perpendicular crack in the ceiling and why the two posts sound different - one is only carrying load from one side and the other is carrying from both.

 

Pull them out , whats the worst that could happen ?

 

thats in a cantilever

the posts look to at least be partially over thr beam line below just judging by the bit in the pic

 

It certainly looks like they stack on the beam. @daveeasa Time to start opening up the drywall. Or call the building dept on Monday and get the original plans. lol

 

This is looking from above? The thing is, stud finder appears to tell me the catwalk has joists lengthwise rather than across it. The crosses are at either end.

 

Yes, they are close enough to match up reasonably well in both planes. I’ve accepted that much at this point.

One I don’t see as having material load other than the weight of an 8 year old jumping on it on the catwalk, assuming the corner of the closet is currently framed to take load.

I’m at the conclusion that I would personally choose that route. Ideally, though, I’d prefer to extract them intact. Because they are decorative and they do match. But the wife/boss is on title here and it’s not entirely my decision.

I think that’s the only thing left to potentially do. Cut a hole in the drywall at the top of each post and inspect how it’s attached. But does that tell me anything? Can drywall carry load? I assume not. So if there is drywall in between then it’s 100% safe to remove?

 

Correct. Blame 20 years of AutoCAD for that.

I'll never claim to be an engineer or a builder but in all the plans I've drawn and looked at, that's not what I would have expected.

 

If it was done correctly, the beam should bear directly on the post.

If you want to take a page out of the This Old House playbook, cut the nails at the bottom of the post and if the bottom can be moved, no weight is bearing on it and it can come out. If it doesn't move, there is weight on it and it has to stay.

 

We live in a 100 year old home that the previous owner, my late BIL, neglected for too long. We are going on the market in a few weeks and it has been a push to get things done.

When we moved in two years ago we spent about $125k on upgrades to the main level and new fencing outside. The house is brick and stucco and had some huge cracks inside, so we had a contractor repair the walls and install new Sheetrock on the ceilings. We rebuilt the main bathroom, new carpet in most rooms, installed new Kitchenaid appliances and also did some electrical upgrades.

The house had two sewer lines, one under the north side of the house for the bathrooms and one on the south side for the kitchen. Both were clay lines and were rotted and plugged with roots, so we abandoned them and had a single new line installed. We connected the north side to the south side and ran the new sewer line out to the street connection. The 1/2 bath downstairs has a shower stall which was demoed for the sewer work so that was closed off.

The basement has been largely ignored except for refreshing the 1/2 bath. The past two weeks have been working on the largest room downstairs with a new ceiling, new paint and I’m putting down a new floor. Next I’ll paint the “office” which is between the large room and the 1/2 bath. I’ve got a contractor installing new Sheetrock on the ceiling in the laundry room, and then I need to replace a column in the small crawl space under the main bedroom. Oh yeah, we also had a new exterior door installed from the master bedroom out to the back deck.

I am more than ready to sell this and move into a house that is newer and less of a rebuild.