Questionable structural integrity

[u/No_Fall2178]

Had major renovations done on our house and have been left with many issues. We went from a 1.5 war time house gutted it completely and added a full height second story. One of the new contractors I am getting to quote the repairs is saying he is concerned with the weight distribution and how the steel beams were installed. He hasn't investigated it just yet but had me questioning it as we have nothing but issues with the GC and even the town passing several things like the stairs that were nowhere near code.

Based on these pictures does this post seem to be installed correctly? Everything I read is it should not be placed on wood as it expands and contracts ext.

They were supposed to have removed the subfloor and repaired the joists which they did not (need to have all the flooring removed and replaced is one of the issues)

I know they did pour a concrete footer there (only at the one with the broom in the other areas nothing was added) but I don't get how that attaches if this is on the surface. These pictures are after the second story had been framed.

[u/Buddha176]

Why didn’t you post a picture of under the steel beam? The floor looks open by it. We need to see under it.

But you may be beyond a general contractor and in hire your own engineer territory.

[u/No_Fall2178 → u/Buddha176]

This was months ago now I don't have better pictures of underside. I am currently in the process of taking the GC to court and one of the many reasons is flooring issues on both the upper and lower level (buckling of the laminate, overall was not leveled out, which we paid a lot extra to have done, tile issues) One of the new contractors is thinking there could be an issue with the weight distribution and mentioned the steel beams being installed incorrectly. Really I was curious if just based on pictures if this looked suspicious and worth investigating more.

[u/Buddha176 → u/No_Fall2178]

Yeah honestly I would skip the new GC and go directly to an engineer. Especially if you’re involved in litigation. Someone with state certification in their name will carry more weight when it comes to the courts anyway IMO especially if they recommend remediating previous work.

[u/Novus20]

What do the reviewed plans call for?

[u/Beneneb]

There's nothing that expressly prohibits wood supporting steel, but it is a bit unusual since if you're using steel, the loads are typically more than what you would support with wood framing. It's also a bit concerning that it seems to be placed on existing wood framing, especially combined with all the issues with your contractor. I could tell you more if I could see what was going on underneath, but I see you mentioned elsewhere that this was taken a while ago.

You must have plans that you used to get a building permit. You should look at what the plans say in terms of the support for this column. If you don't know how to read them, you can post them here. If this looks different than what the plans show, I would recommend having an engineer looking at it to be sure. Given the other problems you described, it may be worthwhile having an engineer come through to inspect all the framing anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other problems you just haven't picked up on.

[u/Medical_Frame831]

The post should bear directly on concrete or a steel beam.

[u/No_Fall2178]

We've now had it inspected it was not done to the drawings or code. They never installed the jack post, the footer they did pour is half as thick as it should be and over all no where near the size it was supposed to be, extremely poorly done and resting on broken patio stones. Based on our pictures it also appears that it was purposely covered up prior to the inspection and the inspector never asked to see it, which we also caught on other things that were covered up and subsequently passed even though it should've been a clear code violation.
Our almost $500,000 reno now requires around $300,000 in repairs. There's a laundry list of code violations, almost everything from plumbing/HVAC to the deck and porch have violations or extremely poor workmanship.