Woodland Hills Structural Work With Parallel Strand Beams
Parallel strand lumber keeps a Woodland Hills beam and its posts straight as dry inland air pulls moisture from wood. Engineered, and permitted with LADBS.
Parallel strand lumber goes into the posts and the long beam when a Woodland Hills family room is opened to the kitchen. Thin wood strands, pressed together with glue, give it a dry start, and it stays straight. Dry air and strong sun on an inland lot keep pulling moisture out of solid sawn timber, which can twist, check and shrink once installed, and a beam that moves shows up as cracks in the ceiling.
Why it suits a wide opening
A family room joined to the kitchen tends to need a long span with no post in the middle of the floor. Strand lumber comes in deep, long sections and carries more load for its size than most sawn beams. It can be left exposed and stained, or wrapped in drywall to match the ceiling. Its posts are made the same way, so the whole frame dries and moves at the same rate, which keeps the joints between beam and post tight.
Setting it in place
Temporary walls hold the ceiling on both sides while the old wall comes out. The beam is set into hangers or onto posts, and each post bears on a footing the engineer has sized, which may be new. Connections are bolted or nailed as drawn, and an LADBS inspector sees them before the ceiling is closed. The kitchen is out of use for part of this, so a temporary counter and sink elsewhere in the house can keep meals going.
Structural Work in Woodland Hills: what families ask
Possibly. What decides it is how the existing footings, walls and roof framing compare with the weight of new rooms above. An engineer runs those numbers, adds whatever reinforcement is missing to the drawings, and LADBS reviews them before the second floor starts.
Prove the wall is bearing by checking the joists and anything stacked on it. Then the engineer sizes a beam, often parallel strand or steel, with posts and footings. Temporary walls keep the ceiling up while the old wall comes out, and inspection happens before finishes.
Woodland Hills work is permitted and inspected by LADBS. Its inspector checks footing trenches and steel, then beam connections, posts, hold-downs and nailing, all before they are covered. Drywall goes up once the framing card is signed.
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