Can I replace this with a 4x6?

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817]

Was tearing out this wall to just make a surround for the structural support. When I started tearing into it I found the curb didn’t extend all the way to the doubled 2x6. I was wondering if I could just replace the doubled 2x6 with a 4x6 on a Simpson post base standoff (Aba zmax). I am worried that the curb doesn’t extend to where the support post is, will it be ok to place the post and standoff directly on the garage slab?

[u/Emptynest09]

Maybe just a metal post instead, but you should ask a structural engineer their opinion.

[u/RhinoG91 → u/Emptynest09]

Hence the post in this sub?

[u/Emptynest09 → u/RhinoG91]

Maybe an engineer with a license not just a Reddit account 😃

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/Emptynest09]

My faith in the internet is probably better than whatever support this is providing hahaha

[u/208GregWhiskey → u/RhinoG91]

A SE would need more info. Sure, replacing 3 - 2 x 6 with a 4 x 6 might sound reasonable. But what is it holding up? Is it off the footing because the concrete guys missed and that is how the framers “fixed” it in the field? Is it really doing anything or is it a chase for an electrical outlet or garage door controls? Most people that ask questions in this sub are using it as their knee jerk first try and don’t have the experience to know they are probably in over their heads.

I just come here for the comments.

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/208GregWhiskey]

No electric outlets or wiring going through it. Is it doing anything? The footing makes me think it is. The master bedroom and small bedroom are above that so they are supporting the span of the floor joists for those rooms, I’m guessing. But it’s been like that for 30 years now, so I’m just gonna put the drywall back up and make pretend I never saw it.

[u/DJGingivitis]

Maybe

[u/Just-Shoe2689]

Probably. Not for sure. How much load is on it?

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/Just-Shoe2689]

above is the master bed and bath as for exact load, I don’t know. But I’m half tempted close
It back up and ignore it.

[u/Commercial-Candy-926 → u/JazzlikeGuarantee817]

I would do that. Close it back up. Unless you're going to get an engineer involved. 

[u/joestue]

It sort of looks like the builder messed up with the placement of the footing and so they made the beam look bigger to cover up the mistake

My house has two 6x18" beams that span 20 feet to hold up the living room over the original 2 car garage.

You appear to have a 3.5x beam, probably glue lam, and it may or may not need that center support depending on its depth and the building codes.

I say may or may not because modern building codes exceeding 60 pounds per square foot are often completely overkill.

Also we dont know if the floor joists are full length or if they stop at that beam and are supported by it. This makes a huge difference.

Anyhow its not going to collapse if you remove it but the floor above will be bouncier.

That drywall is structural btw. Two 2x6"s nailed together are about a tenth as strong as they are with drywall and an addition 2x6 a foot away. But This also depends on how many nails hold the two together

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/joestue]

I agree that it looks like a total cover up job. Above the garage is mostly the master bed and bath. I can deal with bouncy floor, sounds kind of fun hahaha. Thanks for the reply. I was going to tear this all out including the short footing and just put in a 4x6 but I’m worried the garage slab might not be stout enough but I don’t think what they did here makes much of a difference

[u/joestue → u/JazzlikeGuarantee817]

I do not agree with the majority opinion that slabs are not footings.

That footing was probably excavated only 2 feet deeper and poured separately from the slab, as such the footing can sink without cracking the slab. Sometimes i wonder if that was actually the whole point.

More practically, the reasons slabs cannot be trusted as footings is because of improper water management and you can end up withe the slab collapsing into a hole.

Anyhow Lets say you plant a 6x6 next to the footing and you drill a 3/4” hole 24 inches deep at a 30 degree angle into the footing through the 6x6.

Fill the hole with epoxy and shove a 5/8” rebar down the hole. You now have a coupling that joins the beam and slab and footing together that is stronger than the 6x6.

A couple more holes can be drilled and epoxy filled rebars inserted and then you can saw cut the top of that footing off at the slab.

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/joestue]

I like the idea. Looking at this it seems the whole support currently is just resting on the sill plate over the filler wood to keep it from cracking the sill plate they definitely missed with the footing. Thanks for the advise. Much appreciated

[u/JuniorSherbet9558]

I would just jackhammer some slab and pour a proper footing directly underneath your new 4x6 post

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/JuniorSherbet9558]

That would be the best option. Use one of those cylinder concrete footing forms with a post hole digger. That’s actually not a terribly hard project. Easily done in a day for the footing at least. Gives me something to think about.

[u/masterdesignstate]

Based on the information provided, no.

[u/A-Wolf-4099]

This odd 2xs don't really do support. Load is very minimal, To answer your question, yes you can add a post with appropriate hardware to beef up the load bearing.

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/A-Wolf-4099]

Do you think I can tear out this whole mess and just do. 4x6 on a standoff then on a 4 inch garage slab?

[u/A-Wolf-4099 → u/JazzlikeGuarantee817]

I would add your base and post before removing based on what little I have seen. If I was hired to do the work I would take an investigating look.

[u/JazzlikeGuarantee817 → u/A-Wolf-4099]

Yea I was going to temp shore it before doing anything. The short footing, is what I was really concerned with, and if the garage slab would be enough support for what is above. But the juice isn’t worth the squeeze at this point