#Span tables for lvl beams crack

#Span tables for lvl beams crack

For example, first-floor ceiling plaster would crack as occupants walked across a second-floor bedroom that was framed with bouncy floor joists. Strength and stiffness are equally important. Beams, studs, joists and rafters act as a structural skeleton and must be strong enough and stiff enough to resist these loads. The house acts as a structural system resisting dead loads (weight of materials), live loads (weights imposed by use and occupancy), like snow loads and wind loads. This article will focus on how simple beams like joists and rafters react to loading. If, when the loads of the house are combined, the house weighs more than the soil can support – the house will sink until it reaches a point at which the soil can support the load. Remember when your science teacher said: every action has an opposite and equal reaction? Well every building load has an equal “reaction load”. The structural goal of a house is to safely transfer building loads (weights) through the foundation to the supporting soil.

A complete analysis of wood’s mechanical properties is complex, but understanding a few basics of lumber strength will allow you to size joists and rafters with the use of span tables. Wood is naturally engineered to serve as a structural material: The stem of a tree is fastened to the earth at its base (foundation), supports the weight of its branches (column) and bends as it is loaded by the wind (cantilever beam). Using span tables to size joists and rafters is a straight-forward process when you understand the structural principles that govern their use.