| Fir beams were a last minute addition. It caused some level of delay, especially when I realized I needed them slightly stronger. I decided to place them doubled at 24" OC, and I had to order an additional 7 after the first ones arrived (Montreal supplier). They are solid fir, dressed 4 sides, 2.5" x 9.25", $4.90/ft. Our gluing job was not very successful and thus the C-clamps holding many of them. More clamps are needed. This is a great way to 'improve' headroom without having a change in floor heights upstairs, and without incurring additional exterior wall areas to be made (which is the usual result of taller ceilings in houses). Our ceilings on the main floor are 9' to bottom of joists. One-side-good special fir plywood was placed atop the beams. The beams are placed carefully so as to be directly underneath the closet walls upstairs. So no blocking is required under those walls, and nails will go directly into the joists. We were careful to use galvanized nails on the joists to avoid rust stains. When the last 7 beams arrived, this was forgotten and some rust stains have now appeared on the affected members - so far very minor. We will see how much sound attenuation is needed over this area. If a lot, we may need to add a sound absorbing medium to the floor upstairs. This possibility was addressed by building all the door openings 3" taller upstairs, anticipating possibly a gypcrete pour on the floor, and sono-base panels under the finish flooring. |
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