Ridge beams, maximum span

[Dan O.]

[johnnyapollo]

[sdmod]

There could be a concealed steel beam.....I have seen a house down here in San Diego that had a 40+ foot span, although the exterior wall to wall distance was a bit closer. This was achieved with a steel beam

[tallrick]

Rilco used to make glue-laminated beams of that length. I have seen an old Ranch House restaurant with a 25 foot span like that with two beams carriage bolted together. A laminated beam could be used in a building like that. It may also be steel but I doubt it. Also that bolted connection in the center adds stability. If the ends of the rafters are also bolted to the wall or exterior beam, it stiffens the whole structure immensly.

[Joe]

that's a question for an engineer

[SDR]

Two beams carriage bolted together may be concealing a steel flitch plate, which would considerably stiffen the beam. . .

SDR

[Stephen]

[DFWmidmodfan]

It could well be a glue-lam beam, with the white paint and possibly the resolution of the photo not making the characteristics of a glue-lam beam (glued laminations) obvious.

I've seen many glue-lam beams span longer distances than that. The config shown in the photos does not appear structurally unsound, from my estimation. But is this a common Cliff May design? My impression of Cliff May designs, from my admittedly limited exposure to them...they are a bit more compact and less structurally complex than what is shown in the photos. That beam initially strikes me as a later addition to substitute for a load bearing wall that was removed.

[Dan O.]

Well, looking at the exterior of the house:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/e ... terior.jpg

...this may possibly be an original arrangement (window is definitely not), after all, a similar roof structure is employeed where the master bedroom L's off the main house in most other Cliff Mays; albeit w/suitably spaced load bearing post and walls hiding much of the complexity. Assuming what is now the kitchen is not an add-on I'd imagine it may have originally been partitioned off from the living room and had supporting post or a wall at this point.

With the removal of interspaced post/walls I can't see an alternative to the living room utilizing a flitch-plated or glulam beam, it would also seem that the kitchen's length would require the same, right? At any rate, if this was done correctly it must have certainly been an expensive undertaking; otherwise I'd think a heavier than average ceiling fan would cause a cave-in.

The last time I was in a Cliff May I noticed something for the first time, the ridge beams in the examples I've seen are not a always a single piece end to end like I originally thought. It seems that where vertical post are positioned there is often a butt joint between two separate beams, I'm guessing than when originally built, if the position of a post made it possible to utilize two (shorter, less expensive) beams vs one (long, expensive) beam then so it was done.

[Stephen]

[Dan O.]

No, not my style. I like them nice, beat-down and free of "upgrades". My only interest in this particular home is that roof structure. I plan on being in the market for a Cliff May in the future, perhaps one of the Westmont homes. Thing is, I'm heavy into DIY projects, etc and I don't like the idea of having vertical post running down the center of my ideal shop/garage. On the more drastic end of that (here come the flames) I would not entirely dismiss the idea of expanding an original garage to add shop space only if 1) the added space could be free of obstructions, 2) the results were "original" in appearance. Believe me, I would never think of tacking on some ramshackle addition to have something like a three car garage, instead picture a garage addition that would result in an L-shaped floorplan utilizing the same design format as the original structure. So is was I just uttered complete blasphemy?

[SDR]

Not to me (maybe bacause I'd like a shop space and because I'm not a Cliff May owner). The magic words 'the results were "original" in appearance' is enough for me.

Is anyone familir with a May prefab that actually changes level inside (to accomodate an irregular site) ?

SDR

[Stephen]

[SDR]

Cliff May experimental ranch house, West Los Angeles, date not given. The Mays lived in this house for two years.






"Children's bedrooms are formed by enclosure of modular storage units. Cabinets 2 by 4 by 6 feet are mounted on rubber wheels so that they can be shifted to form different combinations."





This seems to be an improvement on Raphael Soriano's 1950 Case Study House (1080 Ravoli Drive, Pacific Palisades) with its stationary cabinets:
"Except for bathroom walls, partitions are formed by floor to ceiling storage cabinets; these were shop fabricated and installed after all finish work was completed." [Esther McCoy] The Soriano house has a flat roof.

SDR

[Stephen]