The floor above our garage dropped about 1/2 and inch, which made one heck of a noise and scared the heck out of my wife and I. I found that the I-Beam Support pole had completely rusted out at the base and dropped down on itself. It is still supporting the I-Beam, just not in a structurally sound way. I had fixed a leak into the garage that was caused by a broken gutter drain and a lack of cement between the blocks in the garage wall next to it. (This is how excessive water got to the pole to rust it out).

This leads to a number of questions:
1. Where would I find a new support pole, and do they have a specific name?
2. Should I cut out the garage floor where the old pole is and re-pour for the new pole or should I just re-use the same hole?
3. Is this something I can claim on home owners insurance as we have only owned the house for 2 years?
4. While I understand how to properly jack up the beam and replace the pole, is there any reason I should not try to do this job myself?

TIA!

Hi Rupertnt

1. The pole is called a lolly column and can be made at an iron workers shop

2. Support both sides of colunm with 4x4 on house jacks. Remove lolly column and part that is left in hole. Fill hole with hydraulic cement. After lifting beam to desired height, measure from beam to floor. Purchase lolly with a plate large enough to support beamon top and a 12 by 12 plate on bottom. Secure to beam and concrete with 1/2'' bolts.

3. Don't know if covered by your home insurance. Get in touch with your agent.

4. It should not be a problem to DIY. If any doubts, have it done by pro.

Good luck and happy holidays

Chuck

I doubt if insurance will cover a beam rusting out but you can try. The pipe beam support can be bought in anadjustible version and you can likely do the job. Beam & Support Column Replacement (http://www.sinking.com/column.html)