Structural Renovations near you

The engineer chooses the beam, but you decide how it looks, so raise it early in design. A dropped beam hangs below the ceiling and is usually the simpler install. A flush beam sits within the depth of the floor joists for an uninterrupted ceiling, but the joists must be cut and hung from it, which takes more work and can mean opening the floor above. The material follows the span and the load.

Municipalities commonly require engineered or otherwise code-compliant drawings before they issue a permit for structural work. Professional Engineers Ontario explains that a sealed drawing is final for its intended purpose and that a licensed engineer takes responsibility for it, while the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec requires engineers to authenticate the engineering documents they prepare or supervise. Both regulators publish directories where you can check a name before hiring.

The permit comes with inspections, and the beam, its connections and any new footings must be seen before ceilings and floors are closed. Ask the engineer to review the work at the same stage and send a letter for the permit file. Any change on site, such as a post that has to move around a duct, goes back to the engineer before it is built. In Quebec, the contractor also needs an RBQ licence with the subclasses the work requires.

Order matters more than speed. A careful crew follows the drawings step by step and never removes a support before its replacement or temporary shoring is in place.

In a row house or semi-detached home, one wall and often the footing under it are shared with the neighbour. Beams frequently bear on that wall, joists may be pocketed into it, and in older brick rows it can be solid masonry carrying both houses. Cutting pockets for a new beam, removing a chimney breast or underpinning beside a shared footing can affect the house next door as much as yours.

Bring the neighbour in early. Share the drawings and the schedule, and have a condition survey done before work starts, with photos of existing cracks on both sides, so any later claim is settled on evidence. The engineer should look at the neighbour's side before designing underpinning or new bearing points, and the contractor may need access to the neighbouring property. Rules on shared walls vary by province and by property title, so get legal advice if the work depends on the neighbour's consent.

Fine cracks in paint or plaster can appear as a house settles onto new supports. Cracks that keep growing, or any of the signs below, call for the contractor and the engineer before more finishes go on.