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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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They're pretty beefy, occurred to me to get a cutting torch and do just that but it's very close to working out going underneath and that would be a lot just to make sure a vent pipe has minimum slope.

Got some more framing done today and picked up 4 sheets of sheetmetal so i can replace foam board and put drywall flush with ceiling. here's a pic so one of you pussies can question me on using 2x4s on the ceiling
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I would cut a hole in it, but I would know how to stiffen the beam too with a stiffener on each side of the hole
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Seriously don't cut it unless you know what you are doing. Just swiss cheese it.

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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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You think it would warp cutting a 2.5 inch hole in a 12 inch beam, B?

I just went to a seminar on heat straightening beams on impacted bridges, was pretty interesting as far as professional development hours go
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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You think it would warp cutting a 2.5 inch hole in a 12 inch beam, B?

I just went to a seminar on heat straightening beams on impacted bridges, was pretty interesting as far as professional development hours go
We cut holes in beams in the web all day long with either a acetlaine torch or a plasma torch as small as a W6x15. A 12" wf beam used in a house is most likely going to be a lightweight beam like a 12x16 or something. It would take a lot of heat to warp a beam since the beam itself acts as a huge heatsink. If I had to cut a hole like that I would probably just use a hole saw that size. If you decide to do it, just rent a mag drill for the day from the rental place. Large heavy as drill that has an electro magnet in it that you turn on and it sticks to what you are drilling. That's what we do in the field. You place it, turn it on and then only have to worry about feeding it since it's stuck to the beam even upside down. Most rental places should have one.

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I don't want to give any advice that might make your house fall down. Normally when we do a hole in a beam that's larger than a bolt (normally up to about 1-1/2") we also do a set of stiffeners on each side.

But a 2.5" hole in a 12" beam isn't really that large, but like I said we would do a stiffener from flange to flange and welded to the web on each side of the beam.

Just to show what a stiffener looks like. You can also sometimes have to double up the web. I'd draw a pic but I just put autocad 2016 on today and I still have some work to do with it.

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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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This is one of about 5 that are under my 2 car garage. I'm guessing the flange is 3/8ths thick, i definitely think it's heavier than 18. I think the blocks would shear before these beams flinched.

Not going to cut it i was just curious about the purpose for stiffeners. Never figured a hole saw would make it, is it a magnetic press mount or something? I'd have a heart attack pushing.

2016 is a hoot.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Mag drill press. It's not that hard, yeah get a good bit and it just goes slow and easy. You don't have to hold the drill or keep it from moving. You really aren't pressing that hard. Some of the stuff in the shop we do that way too because they don't want it flame cut and we can't do it on the punch.

The big thing with cutting steel is not make a sharp corner. Leave at least about a 1/2" radius on each corner.

The stiffener transfers the stress from flange to flange that the web normally would and it keeps the web from buckling right there as well. Just ties it all together.

Just imagine that on a smaller scale with your hole made right between them.

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Mag drill. They make bits up to normal hole size like a wood hole saw.

 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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92 bucks to rent the drill at sunbelt. Prob have to buy an 80 dollar bit too. Will def keep it in mind if the plumbing is a bust though. I'll need a rotary hammer to get through the block too but I can usually borrow one of those. Shaping up to be an expensive vent.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself, WWED?

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That's nothing. I would touch up the red oxide they burned off doing it.

You could do it with a regular drill in no time. Just remember on a beam the web is thinner than the flange. So if the flange is 3/8" thick the web is likely 3/16" or 1/4" tops. You have to get into the special 14" column sizes for it to be the same and those are made to hold up skyscraper sized buildings, like 2" flange and 2" web. Not likely in your garage lol.
 

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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I think he consulted on my last basement plumbing operation about 4 years ago so i've prob gone over my limit for forum basement plumbing advice.

Progress photo, building the box out for the hvac in 8 ft sections and putting it up, pretty brutal doing it solo but doable, better than asking wife for help and her getting gravely injured in 2 seconds.

Picked up 30 more 2x4s and she asked if i wanted help carrying them in....no. last time she carried them 2 at a time in her arms like firewood and beat the shit out of the walls and promptly developed tennis elbow. I guess it's the equivalent of me trying to cook, cut my fingers off and burn everything.

Edit -- and if i had to do it over again instead of replacing the foam board cold air returns with sheet metal to allow for drywalling over i would give furring out the rest of the ceiling serious consideration. I got 4x8 sheet and it's a pain in the ass to hold up and attach.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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LOL, yup that will do it. I wish I had the ability to take a picture of a blowout of an elbow in a 48" pipe coming out of the cracking unit at a refinery. Imagine a 200' blowtorch. Platforms 75-100' tall just melted over and touched the ground like a giant paper clip. I would have mailed 10,000 copies of it to Rosie.

I don't know what it's called but railroaders use a small contained explosion to join tracks together, try that and let me know how user friendly it is.
 

Convo

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
8,768
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So I need to run an Ethernet wire to 2 different rooms on the opposite side of my house where the modern is. I have a small closet I want to run the wire to and then from there run one to basement and another to a small office area. What do I need? A switch??