This flush beam in the second floor had no bearing on one end, only nails loaded in shear into a ledger.
The ledger was partly carried by cripple studs, but the header supporting these cripples had no support.
No joist hangers supported the joists carried by the flush beam.
Plumbers over the century had done a good job of carving up floor joists.
Very little was left of some joists after the plumber's work.
The span and width of this opening requires a double-LVL beam, but in a previous renovation o open up the room to the kitchen, remodelers had only used a double 2x12.
From the basement we are looking into a joist bay in the first floor. A new steel beam will be installed perpendicular to this basement I-beam girder. The new steel beam will span from this girder to a second basement girder that runs parallel to this one in the background.
A column supporting the existing girder in the basement had almost no footing.
