We got drawings from the joist/truss company this week. BIL took a look, and noticed that in the basement, they had spec'd a 7' post at the bottom of the stairs. Well, next to the bottom of the stairs. Not in a spot where anyone would run into it. But there was a beam that sat on top of this post, that cuts the basement in half. So, max height of 7'? Plus, there are posts on either side of the stairs, with a beam going across them. This hangs below the 7' post, across the bottom of the stairs. BIL, who is as tall as MrDinks (his brother), envisioned a dent in that beam at the bottom of the stairs in the shape of MrDinks' head, and called attention to it. Or maybe he was thinking of his own head, but either way...
So he called the joist company, and confirmed that was a typo, and the post is actually 8'. No problem.
But then MrDinks became concerned, because the basement was supposed to be 9' tall, so why an 8' post? Well, it turns out the basement is actually only 8'8" at the bottom of the joists that hold up the first floor. The beam is 12" thick, and hangs below the joists. So the posts holding that up would be just under 8'. So, what are our options to keep it as high as possible? We can have a flush beam, so the joists butt against the beam instead of sitting on top of it. But then any ductwork will hang below that instead of running between the beams. So, we spent the day considering the possibility of digging the floor lower. That sounded expensive. MrDinks asked about using a steel beam, so it could be only 6" thick instead of 12". But that's also expensive. The joist salesman suggested a semi-flush beam. So we'll have 6" above the beam for duct work and plumbing, and the beam will hang 6" down, giving us an 8'2" ceiling. And only costs about $150 in extra joist hangers. Done.
Now, hopefully, we can get all our ducts run through that 6" gap. And, MrDinks better not complain that the beam is too high to hang the chin up bar from, and that he's hitting his head on the joists!
So he called the joist company, and confirmed that was a typo, and the post is actually 8'. No problem.
But then MrDinks became concerned, because the basement was supposed to be 9' tall, so why an 8' post? Well, it turns out the basement is actually only 8'8" at the bottom of the joists that hold up the first floor. The beam is 12" thick, and hangs below the joists. So the posts holding that up would be just under 8'. So, what are our options to keep it as high as possible? We can have a flush beam, so the joists butt against the beam instead of sitting on top of it. But then any ductwork will hang below that instead of running between the beams. So, we spent the day considering the possibility of digging the floor lower. That sounded expensive. MrDinks asked about using a steel beam, so it could be only 6" thick instead of 12". But that's also expensive. The joist salesman suggested a semi-flush beam. So we'll have 6" above the beam for duct work and plumbing, and the beam will hang 6" down, giving us an 8'2" ceiling. And only costs about $150 in extra joist hangers. Done.
Now, hopefully, we can get all our ducts run through that 6" gap. And, MrDinks better not complain that the beam is too high to hang the chin up bar from, and that he's hitting his head on the joists!
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