Hello
I am reinforcing the intermediate floor on the upper floor and have cut/sawed through the floorboard to insert more beams. When I removed the insulation, I found a metal pipe (about 100mm in diameter) running from gable to gable in the house.
The house is built in modules (by Moelven) and in a module joint you can see that the pipe is connected with some form of X-iron (see pictures).
My question is, what could this pipe be for? Load-bearing?
It is definitely not a sewer pipe!
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...79565668_1382467097_33292258_2055127520_n.jpg
and
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...270045430_1382467097_33292257_839380496_n.jpg
I am reinforcing the intermediate floor on the upper floor and have cut/sawed through the floorboard to insert more beams. When I removed the insulation, I found a metal pipe (about 100mm in diameter) running from gable to gable in the house.
The house is built in modules (by Moelven) and in a module joint you can see that the pipe is connected with some form of X-iron (see pictures).
My question is, what could this pipe be for? Load-bearing?
It is definitely not a sewer pipe!
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...79565668_1382467097_33292258_2055127520_n.jpg
and
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...270045430_1382467097_33292257_839380496_n.jpg
Not so many good ideas. Seems quite strange to my amateur eyes. A pipe for collecting electrical wiring? Can you see if there is anything in the pipe? Drilling through the beams weakens them quite a bit - especially where the load is greatest - in the middle of the house. Or could it be a somewhat special way to brace the intermediate floor by having the pipe rest on something sturdy in the gables? But to use a pipe for that - do people really do that? More questions than answers from my side...
If it is modularly built, could it not be something they have used to lift the modules?
Have been in contact with Moelven but they couldn't help as the division that made villas no longer exists, nor is there an archive with drawings.
I don't think the pipes are for lifting since they have been jointed together as per image 2. Since so much material has been removed from the beam, I don't think it would hold for a lift.
I'm starting to suspect that it is a load-bearing beam of much smaller dimension. The X-beam inside might be intended to "stiffen" the pipe.
I don't think the pipes are for lifting since they have been jointed together as per image 2. Since so much material has been removed from the beam, I don't think it would hold for a lift.
I'm starting to suspect that it is a load-bearing beam of much smaller dimension. The X-beam inside might be intended to "stiffen" the pipe.
Do you know how old the house is and what model it is? If so, you might find blueprints in the building committee's archive, as all drawings should be there. The construction drawing is the most interesting, as all buildings must be approved for their structural integrity. A possible issue could be that your house is a type house, and in that case, there's only one approval that applies to all houses like yours. Finding that approval can be a bit tricky because you need to know which municipality it was submitted in. It is or was not uncommon for prefab manufacturers to hire an architectural firm in a completely different city, and that firm submitted the drawings for approval in its municipality.
Thank you all for your answers.
I didn't expect Moelven to have any information, but they actually replied to my letter and wrote that it was about a construction used during the assembly of the modules and has a reinforcing function, but it was okay to saw off parts of it or the entire pipe.
I didn't expect Moelven to have any information, but they actually replied to my letter and wrote that it was about a construction used during the assembly of the modules and has a reinforcing function, but it was okay to saw off parts of it or the entire pipe.