On 13 Apr 2005 09:20:54 -0700, "Beantown"
wrote:

Actually it sort of U's downward toward the center b/c the original
brick support column has settled/shrunk over the ~105 years the house
has been standing...

It's not rotting at all, in fact. The only reason I began inquiring
about steel was that people keep warning me that since the beam is so
old it might not want to unbend and might crack instead or keep its U
shape but simply lift upwards.

In that case, what you want is to get a pair of 4x4s and bottle-jacks,
crank the beam up 1/4" every couple days, and shove metal shims
on top of the masonry pillar, until it's right.

And mark the pillar somehow so you can tell if it's still moving.