how fucked is this? the house was previously a small cabin that the previous owner (who was a union carpenter) built a large addition to & turned into an actual house. this was his build after opening up the exterior wall & adding a horizontal 2x4 to the old top plate and a fuck ton of 2x8 lumber on the other side, creating a cluster fuck of a beam. held up by an out of level adjustable jack post. it's sagging towards the center of the horizontal 2x4, is there anyway I can unfuck this without getting squashed, or getting fucked in the ass by contractors & permitting? based on the age of the wood on the addition, I'd hazard a guess it was built 30-40 years ago
It's fine. Tape and mud. Every house looks like that at this stage. Maybe just go to Home Depot and get some mexicans.
>>2800783part of me thinks it will be fine, but that horizontal 2x4 joined header w/ this out of level screw jack his sketchy as fuck to me
Looks to me like the beam work is being done by the 2x8s and the horizontal 2x4 is just sagging because sometimes it be like that. Are the 2x8s sagging at all? What is above the horizontal 2x4? If all seems solid i would honestly just do what >>2800783 said...
>>2800778Agreeing with what's already said. Beams sag over 40-odd years. If you want to re-level the ceiling, you'd do better just shimming the drywall. Yeah, that half-assed assembled beam probably should have been done better originally, but looks like it's held up pretty well.That horizontal board isn't carrying any weight. If it's sunk well below the rest of the beam, you could just shave or sawzall it down.
>>2800778get a glulam beam that length and jack it up against that one, then install it properly with support underneath. you're going to lose head room and some room on the sides but it will be solid for another century at least
>>2800788>>2800783the 2x8s are fine & aren't sagging. the top plate above that the horizontal 2x4 is screwed to doesn't seem to be sagging. i can imagine it'd be fine I'm just concerned about that horizontal shit there, which are holding up the ceiling joists and roof rafters. the joists in the ceiling are actually going in two different directions. to the left of the beam they are going perpendicular to the beam & are resting on the horizontal top plate. To the right of the beam they are running parallel to the beamthis is a pic of the out of plum jack
>>2800806it's actually got ceiling joists & roof rafters sitting on it.>>2800875I think this is probably the most least involved thing to do to make it 100%
Box in the header and finish it pussy
>>2800787>out of level screw jackwhat matters is if everything else is back to level. also it looks like he committed removal of a supporting wall. if it really bothers you you can just put a screw jack next to it and remove or straighten that one. get the correct height while you are at it.the 2x4 sag in the middle depends on if it's just the 2x4 or if it's structural above pushing it down. use your spare jack to straighten it and then idk bolt some L bracket down the side.
>>2800934
>>2800778That 2x4 is not holding shit, I'd probably just send some screws up and to make it not sag. The beams look fine. Leave it be.
>>2800778Not bad at all. Painter here. I can easily take care of it myself.
