I'm working on an addition to my home and noticed that the ridge beam was temporarily supported by a post that seems to have caused a significant point load directly over the end of the beam, leading to what looks like crushing. Although my builder, who has generally done solid work, thinks this could be a defect in the lumber or another issue that isn't their fault, I have concerns. An engineer has agreed with me that the way the load was posted wasn't how it was specified; it should have been distributed instead of focused on one spot. I'm trying to expedite getting this resolved with my builder, who wants to bring in reps from the lumber yard to inspect and also have my engineer visit for an evaluation, which might stretch out the process. I appreciate my builder's efforts but would like to avoid any unnecessary delays. How can I approach this situation effectively?
1 Answer
It sounds like a good idea to contact the manufacturer's rep right away and send them some pictures for their technical team to review. From what I can tell, this could be a failure in the beam's lamination, possibly due to improper storage. Generally, the distribution of the load should handle the point loads adequately unless there's a different density issue or the maximum point load was exceeded. Just my two cents on this.
I think it's crucial to point out that the notched stud isn’t the full width of the LVL, so the support was uneven, which could definitely lead to problems with the ridge load. It feels like this isn’t just a random defect, you know? Also, double-check to see if a 4x4 post was specified; what’s there should be equivalent, but it’s worth confirming.