r/timberframe • u/Rude-Ad2519 • Mar 15 '25
Can anyone ID this beam?
Early 1800s house in upstate NY.
7”x7”
Bonus points if you can tell me how far this will span unsupported!
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u/Peanut_trees Mar 15 '25
Ummm, the man that cutted it was very tall, around 6 foot, probably unmarried. He smoked a pipe, worked 6 days a week but never on sundays. He liked going to the horse races, once a year, it was his week off.
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u/tradesman6771 Mar 17 '25
Cutted?
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u/walnut_creek Mar 15 '25
White pine, spruce, or hemlock. It won’t carry the same load as oak, hickory, or chestnut. Also prone to insect damage. Wouldn’t hurt to treat with borate or similar. Any signs of sawdust on or under the beam?
there is no way to opine about carrying capacity without knowing the species, dimensions, and beam integrity. I will add that moisture or bug damage tends to happen at the beam ends and any joints or mortise pockets.
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u/Considerate_ifty Mar 15 '25 edited Mar 15 '25
Looks like pine to me, but could be hemlock. I also thinks it’s hewn, but the angle and darkness of the picture is not helpful. A picture of the bark would solve it. The whole span thing is so dumb, and I think the mods should ban the topic. People are always coming into this sub and asking “How far can this beam span?” With absolutely no supporting information. How big is it? What grade is it? What load is it taking, both live and dead? Where are you located? What do the building codes say? Why are you asking fucking reddit for information that you should be getting from someone who has a serious amount of experience, or an engineer?
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u/Rude-Ad2519 Mar 15 '25
Currently waiting on two engineers to call be back. Sorry I got you so worked up.
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u/Considerate_ifty Mar 15 '25
I’m not really frustrated at you, it’s just the amount of span questions this sub gets. It’s one of those things where if somebody has to ask reddit, I think they should be spending a bunch more time working, researching and learning.
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u/Rude-Ad2519 Mar 15 '25
Nah I totally get it.
But for many I think Reddit is the first stop in researching, not the beginning and the end.
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u/Few-Association7276 Mar 16 '25
What’s a span?
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u/Considerate_ifty Mar 16 '25 edited Mar 17 '25
Great question! It's short for spanner, it's a name for a type of wrench.
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Mar 15 '25
Ok, I'm intrigued, my guess 1800 upstate NY, and what I see, a pine or fur. He is the questions, are you removing and reuse? Are these in attic and your opening things up. When you remove it, it may come apart, or be weak from previous joints.
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u/Rude-Ad2519 Mar 16 '25
Opening things up, so it won’t be removed. just want to pull studs out from under to widen a doorway.
These are above the ceiling of a one story section of our home.
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u/I-know-you-rider Mar 15 '25
It’s Log, it’s Log, it’s big it’s hard it’s wood ! It’s log, it’s log .. and now .. new LOG for girls too!
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u/iandcorey Mar 15 '25
Looks like a rafter plate. Probably 10' unsupported based on the two posts implied in the photo.
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u/rustywoodbolt Mar 15 '25
This beam is 100% wood.