# Forum Home Renovation Demolition  Moving/removing column from verandah

## pinger

Hi Guys,  
Looking for some advise.  
We are adding an outdoor room to a property. It will be freestanding, abutting an existing verandah. The existing verandah has a post in the centre of where the front of the room will be, which will have double glass sliding doors across the front. Obviously, we want to move or remove this post.  
Attached is a picture.   
The existing beam is a 200 x 45.  
We would like to replace the beam with a lower profile (ie smaller depth) beam as it is lower than the head height of a standard sliding door (2143 h).  
Obviously with the column in the middle we would preferably like to move it to one side and add another column to break the span. The opening is 5m approximately.  
If we move that column to the left and add another column on the right the span will be approximately 4m. 
Any suggestions?

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## r3nov8or

I suspect that even with a steel PFC ("C" beam) you will only gain about 50mm. How much height do you need to gain to create the head height you need?. 
Your roof pitch is good and there is little/no cantilever already so you could add a new wall inside the current position to create the head height you need, sacrificing some internal floor area by doing so, but will create an eave on the outside which would look OK I think.. 
Effectively you would add a new beam and wall inside to take the weight of the roof and then remove the current wall altogether. Limiting factors may not be shown in the photo.

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## Bloss

But a suitable steel RSJ would give sufficient height and span the whole distance sitting on brackets/ supports on the existing end posts without any centre post and as r3nov8or says you could bring it in a little behind the existing beam, fix and support at either end then take out existing beams and mid post. You'd some brackets welded on the RSJ at rafter points, but that's easy enough.

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## Metung

Don't forget that the base of the columns have to also be adequately supported and this support is equally as important as that provided by the beam across the top. In fact, if my limited engineering knowledge is correct, then the base of each column will bear half the total load that the top beam carries. These two point loads have to ultimately find their way to ground level - I think.

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## pinger

Came up pretty good

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## r3nov8or

Yep, looks very good. So take us through the engineering (beam etc) you settled on.

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## pinger

150 x 50 x 3.0mm RHS was the beam we used. Welded on the cleats to take the incoming timber rafters, welded a 50mm chock each end to sit in the previous 200mm check out for the timber beam, and powdercoated it.

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