Basement supporting wall header increase

basementlayout

We are finally in the process of finishing our basement after a number of years. I have a load bearing wall that has a header for a doorway, however, we are looking to have a more open hallway. I originally designed this wall to be part of a closet in the office (orignal layout), however, I'm thinking now that I should open the hallway up a little so the hallway isn't as crammed (new layout). See attached floorplan designs.

original layout:
enter image description here

new layout:
enter image description here

Questions:

  1. Should I leave it as a closet or open up the hallway? what would you do?
  2. Do I need to seek expertise of a structural engineer before extending the header?
  3. What is the max span that a header can take load? I'm going to check my local codes. Measuring it out, I believe that the header would take on 4 more joist loads and the total span would be around 6'8".

enter image description here
enter image description here

thanks for looking at my post,

cheers.

Eric

Best Answer

What state are you in? You should check out the span tables for your local code. Generally, for that span outlined in the drawings above, you should be safe with triple 2 x 12s, providing you use grade no. 1 lumber. A less conservative header size might be possible, though. A laminated beam is also a valid option. These codes take climate and real life loads into consideration and they are generally VERY conservative -- for good reason.

Here are example span tables, see page 2:

http://www.southernpine.com/media/SS_7-12L.pdf

Also, I see you only have one jack stud on each side of the header. There really should be two.

Related Topic