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Strength of beams


Fourbarewalls
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If you have the chance, check the beams under load - many barns have tons of hay stored on the first floor and it is worth taking the opportunity to see if any of the beams are sagging or splitting before removing the hay. When you refit the beams to form the mezzanine you will generally need to set them much closer together (40 cm centres is the ideal). You will also probably find that any beams that have been set in a stone wall will be soft at the end and will have to be shortened.

Regards

Charles
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi

We have had a UK expert over (he is a friend, qualified architect and also works with English Heritage on similar buildings in the UK and France) to check out our barn (we would have been too old if we had waited for a French architect!). He did our figures and mentioned that the beams were already over-spanned.

Our solution is to do what they do with old timber framed churches in the UK, build a timber framed building inside the building to make the mezannine. We have the extra problem that the main floor is the the first floor, the ground floor being partly into the hill and also only about 6ft 6ins high. We have the concrete footings in to take the beams and they will go through to the ground floor and be bolted to the main beams on the first floor - ensuring that the walls do not take any load as they currently only keep out the weather, not offer structural support.


We have also been informed that we have to remove the concrete that is over the 'rest' of the first floor (quite a few tons) as this is adding to the problems. Luckily this is not the area under the mezannine, so we can do the big build before we have to remove the concrete - so being able to use that for bases for paths and the car parking area.

This is actually a fairly cost effective way of building the mezannine and we were surprised once we costed the architects plans just how reasonable the cost is (after getting a few quotes for wood) and also we will know that we are not putting any extra strain on an old building. We are using a registered carpenter as this is not a 'single handed' or even 'two handed' job due to the size of the timbers involved.

Hope this helps.

Di

http://www.iceni-it.co.uk
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The Build Centre stock books on tables which enable you to work out how what cross sections are needed for various loadings. I have not found anything on line. The branches of Waterstones where there is a local univercity with nuilding or architecture on the corricula also normally stock them.

Failing that the UK building regs which are on line give some information.

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