Has anyone used a Box Joist?

[ifitsnotanarse]

We want to remove a wall in order to open-up our kitchen/dining room. The wall supports the joists of the floor above but not the walls. A building survey friend of DH suggested using a box joist instead of an RSJ - appearantely does the job just as well and is cheaper to buy.

Anyone know the pros/cons of using a box joist?

Also, does anyone know if we need an architect and/or structural engineer to advise the builder what is needed? I am trying to get DH to have his friend over to advise but DH is reluctant, as the house is "too messy" - that's why we're doing the house up!

I have to say I have never heard of them and I'm an engineer. There are various engineered timber beams/joists available. IME builders far prefer to use the same old thing as the last job (i.e. an RSJ) than anything novel!

Normally yes you need a structural engineer to work out the beam size depending on the load and span.

don't worry about the mess, someone who works in construction/property will have seen it all before and worse.

Thanks for that fossil

You will need building regulations approval for this work and your application will need to be backed up with structural calculations.

Although an architect should be able to carry out the design you would be better off with a structural engineer who does this sort of thing day after day.

(That's speaking as an architect BTW). :)