Okay so I decided to hire a contractor for the first time in a long time. We had a structural beam put in since the original beam was rotting and we already had extra support on the other side of the wall supporting the joists over there. But nothing supporting the joists on the other side.
The guy put sandwiched 2 2x8s instead of using an LVL, I specifically asked for LVL because I though using regular lumber was a ridiculous idea, we wanted it fixed right. Those boards are being held up by temporary jack posts, I found the manfucator, checked their website and theres a big note about them being for temporary use only. They bolted the jack right into the 3" concrete slab, no footings put in. And theres pretty significant gaps between the beam and some of the joists, one of them I can fully fit my pinky through to the other side, most of them I could slide a little piece of cardboard through.
I did get a structural engineer to right up a report. In the report he says to use a “3inch adjustable steel post” and “use commonly accepted construction practices”. So I assumed this meant 3 inch adjustable lallys, rated for permanent use and commonly accepted practices meant putting a footing beneath the structural column.
I called the contractor and he had a few things to say
The jacks are fine for long term use, theres no need for footings because the engineer didn’t specifically state it, the jack is technically a 3inch adjustable steel post.
The 2 2x8 is even better than LVL because there’s 2 of them and it provides better support for less money.
(Here’s my favorite) The gaps between the beam and joists are fine and eventually the house will settle and the joists will bear on the beam. Putting in shims would be pointless because they’d get crushed and compressed when the house settles. (He really told me to wait until your floor sags and it’ll line up)
Now I’ve done this type of work before, I did general construction for years, but I feel like I’m going crazy here.
Is anything I said out of place? Am I over reacting here?
We paid for a permanent structural beam to be installed and got 2x8s held up by jack posts with no footings. Has anyone seen this before? This is an integral beam that’s supporting about 10 joists, not extra support.
You’re completely right. The contractor either doesn’t know what they’re doing or they’re cutting corners to be done sooner.
I assume it’s the second. He told me he does this all the time and no one’s ever complained. After letting him talk for 20 minutes on the phone and him saying things that I knew weren’t right, I told him I did general construction for 6 years and I’ve done jobs like this before. He tried telling me I was just upset then because I could’ve done it myself for less money. In fact I was so excited to not have to do something, theres so much to do here and I’m beat. I assume most people would just look at it and see metal on wood and think it’s good.
Thanks for the sanity check.
If this needed a permit + inspection, that could be a good route to getting the contractor to fix the work. Or having it inspected by the engineer.
Also, if you have a trusted third party fail the inspection and the contractor doesn’t fix it, you have good documentation for whatever next step you take (court, refusing payment, etc).