by Bruce Pooley » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:50 pm

The bottom photo shows one of the major problems with the LVL to an adjustable steel post, that is lateral stability of the beam.

The connection as shown allows a hinge to form at the location where the LVL bears on the wood plate. This hinge allows the bottom of the LVL to move laterally with the top of the post. The top of the post is not restrained either and under certain conditions can move laterally.

One solution is to use wood framing from both sides of the beam to brace the bottom of beam to prevent the lateral movement. Sometimes a metal strap is used by connecting to the floor framing to the bottom of the beam and then to the framing on the other side of the beam.

This also happens when steel beams are supported on steel posts in residential construction. It happened in my home and the EOR made the builder install wood diagonal braces.

Anyone have other solutions?