Our house was built in 1939 with sturdy beams. In 1989, the house was extended, and now that we are renovating the extension and have torn down the ceiling, we can see that they placed the beams in the new part on a board that has been nailed to the old exterior wall beam of the house. This doesn't feel right. See image. How can we address this without having to replace all the beams? Can the beams be supported in some way? Should it be done? This has held up for 40 years now...
The beam that the joists rest on appears to be nailed to the plank frame. With a sufficient number of nails, it is an OK construction, as time has shown.
Thanks for the response. We are considering putting something to support the new beams but maybe it won't be needed? For example, glulam posts from the floor...
That's not strange. I would like to claim that many houses built in the 30s and 40s have similar solutions here and there. Particularly when nails are driven at an angle, maybe with a couple of extra ones. Justus, who responded above, knows much more about this than I do, but since it obviously has worked, and unless you intend to deliberately degrade the construction, I see no point in overworking it.
We will open up for large windows in the opposite wall but then install a steel beam. Today, the beams are allowed to rest on a plank above the current basement window, but the plank is sloping downwards, so it was probably not the right solution. But there we will install a steel beam.