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Appreciation post: My framer's trick for a tricky cathedral ceiling saved us a week
We had a client in Bend who wanted a 22 foot cathedral ceiling with exposed beams, but the engineering for the ridge beam support was a nightmare. The usual method would have meant a huge steel I-beam and a ton of extra labor. My lead framer, who's been doing this since the 90s, suggested we use a built-up LVL header with a hidden steel plate inside the center lamination. We mocked it up in the shop first. It passed inspection, cut about $8,000 from the steel quote, and let us keep the clean look the client wanted. Has anyone else used a hybrid material trick like this to solve a structural or design headache?
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jake1576mo ago
That's a slick fix! We did something similar with a flitch plate in an LVL for a tricky cantilever, and the inspector loved it.
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the_alex6mo ago
Oh man, that reminds me of a buddy's project. They had a second floor deck that was sagging bad. The engineer had them sister up a steel plate to the existing joist with through-bolts. It looked wild, like a metal sandwich right in the floor frame. But it worked perfect, zero bounce after that. The inspector just nodded and signed off right away.
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leo_kelly6mo ago
How thick was that flitch plate?
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