How to enclose an internal staircase?

handiher19

Good morning Brians trust!

We are renovating a hard wood timber relocatable home (pre-loved home).

We need to enclose the internal stair case. I have the engineering report, i am slightly confused, when looking at the report, i feel it shows the joists running parrelle to the bearers. But joists sit on top of bearers (at 90 degrees)??.

1. Can you explian if my understanding is correct?

2. What is the best way to join the bearer (1 bearer is required)

3. What is the best way to join the joists?

Please see photos

  

   

   

JacobZ

Hi @handiher19,

Thank you for your question. It looks like you've got a big project ahead, I'm excited to help you out wherever I can.

When you have engineering plans that need interpretation, it's usually best to confirm anything with the engineer who did the drawings. I'm happy to interpret, but you will need to confirm suitability with the engineer prior to applying this interpretation.

What makes a bearer a bearer, is it its location in relation to vertical support. In your example, the bearer, labelled as B1 runs directly over two posts which are supporting the bearer vertically, this vertical support makes it a bearer.

While the joists labelled J1 and J2 do run parallel with the bearers, they do not sit on top of a post, so they are not classified as bearers. Their job in this application is to transfer the load applied to them sideways into the joists that do sit atop the bearers.

I believe the engineers intention is for B1 to sit directly atop the posts, with J1 and J2 running parallel to the new bearer, but at the same height as the existing joists. There are also two additional joists running perpendicular to B1, J1 and J2 that are not specifically labelled.

See the below render as an example of what I believe they are proposing. Note that this is not to scale.

 

J1 and J2 can be attached to the other joists using a suitably sized joist hanger that is approved by your engineer.

The best way to join the bearers is not something I am comfortable commenting on. I'd suggest this is a question you need to ask the engineer.

Let me know what you think, I am happy to assist further if required.

Jacob