Des Higgins wrote:

"Andrew Barnes" wrote in message
...

Hi There

As a strict DIYer i would like to calculate the size of beam required to
support a wall, when I make a 2m wide opening in a wall.

I am an engineer, but have been working in science for years, so don't

know

where to start!

Can anyone offer any help or advice?



This is just an anecdote relating to the above and is not meant to be smart:
I heard of an engineer whose first job was for the Irish Telephone company
in the early 1980s and his first assignment was to put a generator up on a
"beam". He got the weight of the generator and calculated load factors and
stuff
by looking up some big tables for different materials and doing some
calculations. Then he went to put the beam up. When he tried to find beams
of certains sizes and/or materials, his choice was severely limited.
In the end he used the biggest beam he could find.
I suspect you will end up doing something similar (or biggest beam that is
cheap and manageable)?

Indeed.

In the end, 'big enough' is all it has to be.
'Too big' is when it won't fit...

The steel cost is not huge.

Just get an I beam that comfortably fits in, and use that.
I'd say a 6x3 I beam is more than man enough.



Des



Thanks

Andrew