Load-bearing steel beam - run ventilation pipe through? (Housing Cooperative)
I live in a housing cooperative and have some trouble finding available ventilation ducts. I will probably have to reroute the ventilation from my bathroom to a duct in the hallway, but there's a steel beam about 30 cm thick in the way. My question is whether it is possible to run the ventilation through this steel beam and reinforce it underneath? I will, of course, apply for permission from the cooperative, and I assume I need to bring in a structural engineer?
Member
· Västernorrland
· 11 695 posts
No, you probably can't do that. Usually, you have to work around load-bearing structures unless you incorporate it directly into the construction.
Member
· Östergötland
· 253 posts
What is the purpose of the move and where is the existing ventilation located?
If it's the only way, then I believe it might be possible to pass it through the beam. If you make a round hole in the middle of a beam, it weakens the beam, but a hole in the right place results in a fairly marginal weakening. Let a structural engineer calculate it.
Then there's another issue that it might be quite an effort to cut such a hole in a beam. Normally you would process it with a cutting torch, but the heat from that might further weaken the beam. Plus, it requires quite a lot of fire protection, a fire watch for about a day, etc., if using a cutting torch indoors.
Then there's another issue that it might be quite an effort to cut such a hole in a beam. Normally you would process it with a cutting torch, but the heat from that might further weaken the beam. Plus, it requires quite a lot of fire protection, a fire watch for about a day, etc., if using a cutting torch indoors.
There have been quite a few "modernizations" in this house over the last 10 years. I am newly moved in. Our channel has been taken by the neighbor above, and we had our bathroom on the neighbor's tile stove channel below. We agreed to move our channel so they could use their tile stove and they are covering the cost. However, the company that did the job on the neighbor's tile stove channel hasn't been entirely honest, so now we are faced with the choice of running an unsightly beam across the apartment. The channels in the hallway were closed when they built attic apartments in the early 2000s, so my option now is to run a pipe out to the kitchen. However, I don't know if it's okay to have the kitchen and bathroom on the same channel?
Doesn't seem like a good idea to go through a steel beam if all that work is required.
Doesn't seem like a good idea to go through a steel beam if all that work is required.
Member
· Västernorrland
· 11 695 posts
And a separate ventilation through the wall with a pax fan is not an option? It doesn't really sound like the ventilation otherwise is coordinated in any way anyway.
Hello Stefan? What do you mean by that? There are two options if I still have to run a pipe through the apartment.
1. is to run it in the hallway, which would look okay. Then the bathroom and kitchen would be on the same channel but with entry holes from different sides of a wall. Could I then put pax fans in both the bathroom and kitchen?
2. is to run it into the guest room. It would frankly look awful, but then the bathroom would be connected to its own channel.
1. is to run it in the hallway, which would look okay. Then the bathroom and kitchen would be on the same channel but with entry holes from different sides of a wall. Could I then put pax fans in both the bathroom and kitchen?
2. is to run it into the guest room. It would frankly look awful, but then the bathroom would be connected to its own channel.
Member
· Östergötland
· 253 posts
Bathrooms and kitchens usually share the same stack in apartments, do you have a central fan on the roof?
Member
· Västernorrland
· 11 695 posts
Considering tiled stoves and that they have taken over chimney flues, it doesn't sound like houses with any central ventilation directly... The simplest thing is probably, as mentioned, a separate pax fan through the wall in the bathroom and then some other solution in the kitchen.
Patrik: no, it's natural ventilation unfortunately.
Stefan: but then all the moisture will end up in the hallway, and since it's an old house, that should be a problem, right?
Stefan: but then all the moisture will end up in the hallway, and since it's an old house, that should be a problem, right?
Member
· Västernorrland
· 11 695 posts
I mean, of course, out through the outer wall, but maybe there isn't one in the bathroom? That makes it a bit more difficult, of course.
It's a housing cooperative, so there might be frowns if I punch a hole in the facade 
Member
· Västernorrland
· 11 695 posts
why if it's done correctly? I don't mean you should hack a hole yourself, but if you drill and install correctly then it's rather an improvement.
There are no exterior walls in the bathroom, but if you were allowed to do it, it's probably a question for the city planning office.
Strictly speaking, it is up to the association to ensure there is ventilation from your bathroom. If they have approved others to tap into your duct, then the association must resolve it.
But let a structural engineer look at the possibility of going through the beam. It shouldn't take more than 3 - 4 hours to assess and examine it. IF it is feasible in terms of structural integrity, then one can look at the appropriate method for making the hole.
But let a structural engineer look at the possibility of going through the beam. It shouldn't take more than 3 - 4 hours to assess and examine it. IF it is feasible in terms of structural integrity, then one can look at the appropriate method for making the hole.