Cracking after steel beam inserted

[andrews]

I'm in the middle of doing a side return extension and have had a 6M steel beam installed to support the house where the wall was, it was properly designed and had steel posts and concrete pads at least 1M deep - all to building regs and as per the structural engineers drawings. They have taken the props away after a few days and a crack has appeared in the room above, its only a couple of mm wide. The builder assures me this is just the house settling onto the beam and there is no need to worry.... should I be?

[Tomoose85]

If in doubt, get a structural engineer to have a look, but its certainly normal to get some minor cracking after such structural changes. It will indeed settle onto the new beam.

[JR]

In these instances fully loaded deflection is usually calculated at span over 500 which in your case is 12mm! It's worth having the padstones, brickwork and the packing above the beams checked; someone should have mentioned this before work began really.

[andrews]

It was all checked by buildings inspector before the props cam out and an on-site visit by the structural engineer during the actual build. No one seems that concerned other than my, so perhaps its just it settling onto the beam - i guess I just need to keep an eye on it for a week or so.

[softtop]

my house still moved years later, knocking them around means movement, houses move anyway.

[98elise]

Definately to be expected, we got a few after our extension. After a year no new ones, and its been stable ever since ( 3 years)

[Slagathore]

I'd only worry if it starts getting bigger

[Z4monster]

Try putting a marker across the gap and then you can see what movement happens from now on. Usually put two arrows pointing at each other across the gap so you can see any movement. You can also fix a solid piece on one side and pen mark on the other to show any movement either positive or negative.

[Z4monster]

Try putting a marker across the gap and then you can see what movement happens from now on. Usually put two arrows pointing at each other across the gap so you can see any movement. You can also fix a solid piece on one side and pen mark on the other to show any movement either positive or negative.

Our house was converted abut six years ago and decorated before we bought it last year. Some crackinig is apparent in the painted plaster walls but mainly across joints in boards, etc. None of them are getting worse so that's a relief.

[andy43]

andrews said:

The builder assures me this is just the house settling onto the beam and there is no need to worry.... should I be?

Builder: "No worries, mate, it's found it's new level, there should be no more settling... I'll be there next week to sort the cracks out..."

[andrews]

Thanks for that, at leases give me the worst case scenario