workinonit
Elite Member
Did it split after it was installed? If it was like that what idiot installed it split like that?
Glulam Beam - Checking Problem
- Thread starter Pettrix
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Alan W.
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Never used those in construction. We always used LVL beams, which are constructed more like plywood.
But that beam is severely compromised. Without seeing the load span calculations I cant comment on whether it is about to fail.
As others have said contact an engineer. Dont waste your time with the building inspector, most of them I have met are not qualified to assess this situation.
Hope you get this resolved and let us know what you find out.
But that beam is severely compromised. Without seeing the load span calculations I cant comment on whether it is about to fail.
As others have said contact an engineer. Dont waste your time with the building inspector, most of them I have met are not qualified to assess this situation.
Hope you get this resolved and let us know what you find out.
OP
Pettrix
Platinum Member
The beam didn't have the checking when installed. It happened about 1-2 weeks later after the install.
I hope to get the glulam supplier engineer out to the site to evaluate. So I will definetly have an engineer inspect it and go from there. I cannot remove the beams as the roof is already installed and nailed down. It would destroy the entire roof trying to remove it.
I did read online they have an epoxy and like someone mentioned, special lag bolts/screws that can shore up the lams if needed. The epoxy is injected under pressure and fills the gaps in the cracks and checking.
The dry Arizona air might have dried out the beam too fast and caused the wood to split. I've seen that happen on other lumber out here. 4x6 top plates, looked good leaving the lumber yard and after installed, it split like crazy and bowed/twisted in some spots. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the beast when air humidity levels can drop in to the teens and single digits out here. Then add the 90-100F heat and wood goes wild. I try and avoid wood when building but roofs and other places still must use it. I prefer steel and concrete out here
I hope to get the glulam supplier engineer out to the site to evaluate. So I will definetly have an engineer inspect it and go from there. I cannot remove the beams as the roof is already installed and nailed down. It would destroy the entire roof trying to remove it.
I did read online they have an epoxy and like someone mentioned, special lag bolts/screws that can shore up the lams if needed. The epoxy is injected under pressure and fills the gaps in the cracks and checking.
The dry Arizona air might have dried out the beam too fast and caused the wood to split. I've seen that happen on other lumber out here. 4x6 top plates, looked good leaving the lumber yard and after installed, it split like crazy and bowed/twisted in some spots. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the beast when air humidity levels can drop in to the teens and single digits out here. Then add the 90-100F heat and wood goes wild. I try and avoid wood when building but roofs and other places still must use it. I prefer steel and concrete out here
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Never heard them called a 'glulam' beam. Around here they are called just laminated beams and around here, the preferred and most used support beams are steel I beams. In my view, that don't look good but then our main support beam is an I beam.
Snobdds
Elite Member
It's the desert, it will dry out wood.
I think it's fine. Wood is not a man made material and it will crack by design. It dosen't mean it looses it's strenght. Gluelams get their strength from the mismatched wood grains stacked side by side.
Plus the wood is in compression, not tension, supported by two ends. The weight is more on the two ends than the middle, as all weight is mostly transferred to the outside walls. The wood is actually being compressed into the wood above it.
I wouldn't loos sleep over it. Plus, the fix would cause more harm than the small appearance problem of the beam.
I think it's fine. Wood is not a man made material and it will crack by design. It dosen't mean it looses it's strenght. Gluelams get their strength from the mismatched wood grains stacked side by side.
Plus the wood is in compression, not tension, supported by two ends. The weight is more on the two ends than the middle, as all weight is mostly transferred to the outside walls. The wood is actually being compressed into the wood above it.
I wouldn't loos sleep over it. Plus, the fix would cause more harm than the small appearance problem of the beam.
mrmikey
Veteran Member
Would the bottom (separated section) not be in tension, middle neutral and top compression?
RustyA
Platinum Member
Microlam, LVL is impossible to have open cracks like that. There is no grain as it is a manufactured laminated wood product. Multiple layers of thin veneer bonded together under heat and pressure. It will bow under heavy snow load but never show cracks like what's in your picture. That does not look like a laminated beam meant to carry a load to me?
Snobdds
Elite Member
The beam would only be in tension if the load was directly in the center of the beam. Since the load is more on the outside of the building, the beam stays in compression.
OP
Pettrix
Platinum Member
Snobdds
Elite Member
Is this a column or a beam?
The anatomy fails to understand where the load is being carried.
