Drilling into an RSJ to fit a blind?
Q. Just to start things off I'm completely ignorant of DIY / construction so please bear with me :-) I've recently moved into a property and need to fit a blind in the kitchen. I've been told that there's a steel joist above the window and this will be cause problems to fit a blind (if top fixing). My question is firstly, is it possible to drill into the RSJ to fit a blind, and if so, is it a DIY job or do you need to get the professionals in with specialist drilling equipment to get through the steel?
Asked by Moray Eel - Fri Aug 10 12:07:26 2007 - - 8 Answers - 0 Comments

A. First of all it will not be an RSJ but a galvanised steel box lintel. You will need a tidy drill and a HSS drill bit. There are two ways to do it: either use a 6mm drill bit and a red rawplug or 7mm drill bit with a brown rawplug or use a smaller bit and a selt tapping screw about 2 - 2 1/2 inches long and screw it straight into the lintel. Drill the lintel slowly as the bit might catch on the metal and force the drill around which could damage your wrist. NO specialist equipment is neccessary. Have fun
Answered by JAMES - Fri Aug 10 13:28:42 2007

My house has two steel I beams running across the bottom floor however it appears to be missing one (See below
Q. I live in a house that I purchased a year ago. This is a endunit townhome with a basement 1st and 2nd floor. It is rectangular. It was built in 1974. I noticed in the basement ceiling there are Steel I beams that run perpendicular to the floor joist. They are underneath the floor joist and are embedded in the cinderblock on each wall. There is one located in the back of the house. One located in the center of the house. However the rest of the house has no more I beams. It would make sense I guess to continue to support the remaining structure with I beams. So I think maybe the builder forgot one... I'm thinking this because my 2nd floor hallway all the way to my bathroom is not level. The bathroom floor is kind of off level on… [cont.]
Asked by scanjet - Thu Sep 7 14:03:25 2006 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments

A. they took this one out to make a woman house
Answered by RDNZL - Thu Sep 7 14:09:20 2006

Proper steel beam size to stiffen kitchen floor?
Q. I have a kitchen floor that is way too bouncy. As a result of this several tiles are getting cracks. Before I got the stone floor installed I asked the installer to reinforce the floor with plywood. The subfloor is the builder's OSB with a layer of glued and screwed 5/8" plywood plus 5/8" durock cement board + 1/2" stone tile. After all that you would think that the floor would be stiff but no. I looked all over the web and it seems that the best solution is to install a beam underneath, perpendicular to the joists. The floor joists are '2x12' engineered I-beams (OSB like), placed 16" on center and spanning 18'. I need to keep maximum headroom on the room below the kitchen thus I was thinking if it is possible to install one or multiple… [cont.]
Asked by profneuf - Sun Mar 9 22:13:51 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Well putting a beam underneath is the absolute solution to accomplishing this and might be needed. But to answer your question, since you are looking just to stiffen the floor, you can do just about anything you want. The maximum to look at is a 5.5x12 glulam beam. That beam could hold up one end of your entire floor with only a post at each end of the beam. To keep at 6" you need one post to make the maximum beam under 6". A 5.5"x6" glulam beam with a 8' span to the middle post would hold up one end of the floor. You probably want something less than the above for the middle. Another thing you can do to stiffen a floor is install more solid blocking rows. With I-Beams that means inserting a webstiffener(usually a 1 inch OSB panel) to… [cont.]
Answered by chattterus - Mon Mar 10 20:53:53 2008