I’m building a custom home and have several areas 2 stories 50 feet wide and 25 feet high. There’s plenty of height in the ceilings. Do I need a girder in between floors or can a frame 25 feet high by 25 feet wide have enough support. I’m framing everything else in wood.
thanks, BG
That seems like a question for a structural engineer.
@billygo_mca
Assuming that you are modeling the house yourself, it is highly recommended that you follow the suggestion of @DaveR and consult with design professionals to do the job correctly and safely.
It must be fully comprehended that even with sophisticated software, automation of the engineering and aesthetic design process should never be attempted. This is a sure fire method to result in disaster. In some U.S. jurisdictions, an owner may construct his or her own residence without permit drawings being prepared by an architect/engineer, but it is not generally considered wise to place economic considerations ahead of the safety and code reliability of your personal home.
Thank you I’m only doing this project as a hobby on sketchup
Well then the answer is Yes, that will work, throw in some skyhooks and a few long weights too.
If you are simply drawing for your own pleasure whatever is aesthetically pleasing is correct.
1 Like
thanks Box but I’m thinking a little outside the box;) and trying to be real and perhaps get one of my structural engineer friends to have a look. Have found some sites that can compute and engineer my questions.
If I have understood the question, you have a wall 25’ x 25’ at the end of a 50’ long room and you are asking whether it can be self-supporting or whether it needs intermediate support.
The answer is that it depends on a number of other factors, such as:
- what is your wall made of?
- how thick is your wall?
- how is it buttressed at each end or along its length?
- what load is the wall carrying?
You say you are framing “everything else” in wood. If you wanted to make this wall in studwork, I suspect you would struggle to do it efficiently without any steel at all. But as others have said, it is really a question for a structural engineer. If the studs are big enough and the wall is strengthened with ply both sides, it may be possible to use wood alone, but it may be an expensive way to do it.
Thank you Simoncbevans. This is the conclusion I’ve come to. Let’s say expense is no problem and you want the house strong, using Steel+wood. It’s not done very often but instead of everything in wood with appropriate header size and code for 2 story building, there will be Steel Girders in the outside framing. This also gives one the option to have larger open areas with bay windows or open room spans. I think I’ll put a few cross members in steel here and there. There’s also a pyramid shaped glass top.
Peace, Billy G
I presume the rooms in question are at each end of the building (but they seem to have upper floors in them).
Assuming the upper floors should not be there, the scale of these structures are probably something best done with a steel frame, such as a portal arrangement. You would then use wood maybe only for rafters and non-loadbearing sections of infill walling.
Thank you for this Simoncbevans,
This has lead me to reading about cold steel, and portal framing in
addition to wood framing. Learning is what I’m into.
Billy