AERZ consulting Inc. has inspected structural integrity of a house after removal of wall by contractor at Sundance area in Calgary, Alberta. Luckily removal of wall did not affect the house and the wall was not a bearing one. It is important to consult a structural engineer before removal of walls in your house. The contractor installed a beam after removal of wall which will tie the remaining walls and keep the lateral resistance intact. It is important not to engage the beam in carrying the roof loads if wall removed was not a bearing wall. It is expected that roof might deflect under snow loads during winter and causes over-stress in the beam and bearing studs.
We have provided a design modification for a roof of a commercial building in south east of Calgary. The roof span consists nearly 50 feet span that is supported by open web wooden steel trusses with pin joints connecting the steel vertical tubes to the wood upper and bottom chords of trusses. The roof is suppose to carry a new heavy high volume air conditioner unit (HVAC) that can not be carried by the old roof trusses.
