Mission Hills Structural Work With Posts That Hide in the Wall
Engineered posts, beams and footings for Mission Hills homes growing upward or opening up a plan, designed by an engineer and permitted through LADBS.
Slim posts that vanish inside a wall are the reason parallel strand lumber earns a look on a Mission Hills second-floor plan. Each post is built from long strands of wood glued under pressure, so it can hold up the end of a heavy beam in a wall barely thicker than an ordinary stud. It also ships kiln dried, which counts on an inland site where dry air keeps pulling water out of green lumber and twisting it.
Where a strand post earns its place
Wherever a beam ends, a post must take the load straight down, and a post that bulges into the room is the first thing the eye finds. Parallel strand lumber lets the engineer choose a section that stays within the wall thickness, so the room keeps a clean line. Under the post, the load has to land on something that can take it, such as a thickened footing or a new pad poured with the reinforcement the engineer specifies. A steel base is fixed between the post and the concrete so the wood never sits on the slab.
Permit and inspection through LADBS
Permits for this work at a Mission Hills address come through LADBS, the city department that also sends the inspector. The calculations and drawings go in as one set, with post sizes, base hardware and footing notes shown on the structural sheets so the reviewer can match them to the beam above. The inspector looks at the open framing, and nothing gets covered until each post, its base and its fasteners have been seen and accepted. Any change the inspector asks for is made to the drawings first, then built.
Structural Work in Mission Hills: what families ask
Sometimes the footings and walls can take it as they stand, and sometimes they need help. An engineer examines the existing foundation, the studs in the lower walls and the way the roof is fastened to them, then designs whatever reinforcement the added weight calls for. Until that review is done, nobody can honestly say yes or no.
A bearing wall has a job, so its job needs a new carrier first. The engineer sizes a beam and the posts beneath it, temporary supports go in on both sides of the wall, and only then do the old studs come out. A permit is required, and the new beam is documented before the ceiling is patched.
LADBS sends the inspector. The visit takes place while beams, posts, anchors and nailing are still uncovered, and each is compared with the approved drawings. Drywall waits for it, and our notes on the open framing go into the project file.
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