PipeDown wrote:
"louie" wrote in message
oups.com...

This laminated beam will probably be many times stronger than the
original solid beam. It's actually becoming more common to see this
sort of construction now.



He didn't describe an engineered laminated wood beam , he described a

She )

composite beam made up of four pieces of dimensional lumber. This would be
a little stronger than a solid beam but not as strong as a truly laminated
beam but will be dimensionally stable (less likely to twist or warp). This
construction may be adequate if there is not a large load on that beam and
would be much less expensive than a solid or laminated beam. If the
contractor is good, he at least alternated the crown of the planks before
gluing and nailing. (nails may be incidental until the glue cures depending
on how much and what kind of glue)

The board/beam now has some big, fat bolts through it about every 3'.
The rafters, which appear to be about 12" apart - didn't measure - each
have those metal thingys that anchor them to the beam. The metal
thingys are kind of a "U" as the rafter sits in them. It appears it
might stay up a while ) I've seen so much half-assed work it worried
me, but this contractor is pretty cool. Even cleans up each day.
Inspector comes today.

It's probably adequate construction but likely does not exceed design
requirements. The real thing is to find the source of the water that rotted
the original beam and make sure that is resolved too.