How to install a header in a load bearing wall

Most door frames that are 4 feet wide or less require a 2-by-6 header. Between 4 and 5 feet, the header should be built 2 inches wide and 8 inches long while a larger opening needs a header that is 2-by When in doubt, use 2-byinch headers. If you were to add a spacer, I would use plywood as OSB has much less sheer strength. Purchase sash springs when sliding windows occur on a double window set-up. Place the sash spring in the center side of each window.

The sash spring will fit easily between the sliding edges of the window. Window glass is secured in a bed of putty or glazing mastic in the frame. Small headless nails called glazing sprigs are tapped into the frame to hold the glass while the putty dries, and spring clips hold the glass in metal frames. More putty is smoothed over the top to make a neat finish.

A bottom plate can be nailed down into the stud whereas a header would have to be toe-nailed. So it is easier to construct with a bottom plate. Structurally, it is not required. As you might have guessed, even a closet doorway needs a header. No matter how light the door, window, shutter — or even if an opening is empty — you must frame it with king studs, jack studs, cripples one every 16 inches and a header. As mentioned before, you need jack studs on each side of an opening , and a header over the top of the opening.

You have said that another opening with no jack studs. This was not built properly. There you have it. We can offer advice but we cannot inspect your house framing for you. I didn't hear the "much obliged". I heard "why are you questioning my question? No you don't have to go to any trouble for a 15 minute job. Or go down and get your ladder. Indem Sie weiterhin auf der Website surfen bzw. Mehr erfahren. Small-Space Living. Kitchen and Dining Seating.

Living Room and Entryway Seating. Sign In. Join as a Pro. Houzz TV. Houzz Research. Looking for the perfect gift? Send a Houzz Gift Card! Curmudgeon10 9 years ago. Email Save Comment Sort by: Oldest. Newest Oldest. Sophie Wheeler 9 years ago. Like Save. Curmudgeon10 Original Author. Appreciate the help! Related Discussions need to design a load bearing wall cutout Q. Since a typical interior bearing wall does not have a concrete foundation wall under it to spread out the load of adding a header and a large opening, the size of the opening can be fairly limited without making the footings larger.

In addition, an interior bearing wall could also be a shear-wall as Mega Builders stated. You may have addressed or implied it, but can you tell us whether the sag was addressed, please? Good question Simon. It was a lot of work to squeeze everything in place.

Otherwise, there would be nail pops, tile cracks, etc. Those steel shoring poles Jeff mentions would probably have helped them by providing some lift on the floor so they wouldnt have to cram the header under there. Also, did they need to do anything to make sure that the block wall under the heads could support the weight?

No king stud or anything. Looks like the builder decided to cut a few corners. The wall should have been supporting the weight from the beginning. One more thought… at least on the left side not sure about the right side , the block was filled so that further reinforces the wall underneath the header. Great example of how surprises come up all the time, especially in what seems like a rudimentary weekend project.

What scares me is something like this is completely over my head no pun intended. So I guess a roundabout question is, since this header is too weak, is it possible to make one too strong? Even so, looking at that IBC link for headers and girders should give you a good idea of what to expect. How do you cut concrete block with enough precision to get a joist to slide right in place? Did they end up notching either the header or the joists at all to compensate for this?

Using the grinder to set that edge let them be really precise. I like the use of the shopvac for concrete dust removal while cutting.

You can see the plastic in the background. Cutting block makes a ton of dust and the shop vac was definitely a good idea. Yeah those are nice touches. Even at an older house they still respect the property and that says a lot about their workmanship. Sad to see that some builders take shortcuts to make a buck and then the homeowner has to pay for it later on down the road.

Good find and good fix though. At least someone caught it before any major damage occurred. Kudos to Steve and his crew for being CRAFTSMAN, and not merely laborers who might have let that pass and not have gone to the trouble of fixing it or explaining the concern to the homeowner s. We have an old cinder block garage shed building built in with 2 9 foot wide garage door openings. These 9 foot openings are only supported by a makeshift header consisting of 6 cinder blocks sitting horizontally across the top of the opening.

Once all of this is in place and the jack studs are solidly supported from beneath, you can take out the remaining old notched wall studs as the weight of the wall will be carried by the one half of the beam that is secure and in place. Be sure to have the second half of the beam already cut and ready to slide in place! Let's say you want to remove a wall in between two rooms but you want the ceiling to be smooth just like in the two rooms. You don't want a beam hanging down a foot where the wall used to be.

You can install the beam up in the same space as the floor joists and just use joist hangers to connect the floor joists to the new beam. This will only work if the beam height is sufficient to support the weight that's being transferred to it. Often you can't do the cool trick I described. Perhaps you are working on an outside wall and want to salvage the wall finish on the exterior side of the new beam. You need to build a temporary wall 3 feet back from the existing bearing wall.

But stop! Before you start to build the wall, you must build the beam and lay it on the floor next to the existing wall. Many a rookie carpenter has built the temporary wall, created the hole in the existing wall only to find out they can't get the beam threaded into the narrow space between the old and temporary walls!

The temporary support wall needs to have a top and bottom plate, and the studs of this wall need to fall as closely as possible under and above the floor and ceiling joists. The studs are cut tight so they have to be tapped in place.