# Drilling Through Support Beam



## Dean Rich

I'm adding some electrical to my garage and I have read and understand the rules of drilling holes in non load bearing and load bearing walls.  While pulling away some drywall I ran into a large cluster of studs/engineered support post.  There are 3 2*6 right next to each other with a 7 * 5.5 engineered support post and then another 2*6.  All of those are together with no space.  The engineered support post is nailed to the 2*6 on each side of it.  The engineered support post supports three roof trusses.  My plan is to drill three or four 3/4" holes right in the middle of the 2*6 and engineered support post.  I want to make sure that drilling through this engineered beam is acceptable.  Its the easiest route, but if I need to find a new route I'll work on a new plan.  

My gut says I can't do this, but just wanted to verify.

I appreciate any insight you could provide around drill holes through this cluster of studs.


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## e hilton

Here is a clip from a weyerhauser page about their laminated columns being used for deck supports, they note that bolt holes can be drilled through the face, but not the ply-edge.  Doesn’t really answer your question, but one could assume a bolt hole and a conduit hole are the same.


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## e hilton

Hmm ... cut-n-paste didnt work.  Google “drilling holes in lvl column”.


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## cda

Welcome 


I am not an engineer 


So professionals always make a hole three times what it needs to be

Maybe smaller holes and spread them out??

No way to thread them through the rafters without drilling?  A little more wire, but no holes.


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## mtlogcabin

Dean Rich said:


> My plan is to drill three or four 3/4" holes right in the middle of the 2*6 and engineered* support post.* I want to make sure that *drilling through this engineered beam *is acceptable.


I am confused
Are wanting to drill through the post or the beam or both?


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## e hilton

mtlogcabin said:


> I am confused
> Are wanting to drill through the post or the beam or both?



Yes.


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## tmurray

mtlogcabin said:


> I am confused
> Are wanting to drill through the post or the beam or both?


Sounds like he is trying to drill through a column supporting a girder truss.

To do this, you need a design by a registered design professional.


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## mark handler




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## mark handler




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## e hilton

Technically Mark i dont think that answers his question.  Its a little unclear, but i read that he wants to drill through a column, not a beam.  The restrictions might be the same, but it would be appropriate for him to consult the manufacturer (if he can find a name on the post) or an engineer.  
If he cant find a name on the post, he could look through all the sales literature and find someone who offers a product with the exact same dimensions, and then ask their tech support team.


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## mark handler

e Hilton
Title of post is 
"Drilling Through Support *Beam"*



Dean Rich said:


> "... I want to make sure that drilling through this engineered beam is acceptable...."


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## mark handler

Notching and boring Studs and Joist


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## tmurray

mark handler said:


> e Hilton
> Title of post is
> "Drilling Through Support *Beam"*





Dean Rich said:


> I'm adding some electrical to my garage and I have read and understand the rules of drilling holes in non load bearing and load bearing walls.  While pulling away some drywall I ran into a large cluster of *studs/engineered support post*.  There are 3 2*6 right next to each other with a 7 * 5.5 engineered *support post* and then another 2*6.  All of those are together with no space.  The engineered *support post* is nailed to the 2*6 on each side of it.  The engineered *support post* supports three roof trusses.  My plan is to drill three or four 3/4" holes right in the middle of the 2*6 and engineered *support post*.  I want to make sure that drilling through this engineered beam is acceptable.  Its the easiest route, but if I need to find a new route I'll work on a new plan.
> 
> My gut says I can't do this, but just wanted to verify.
> 
> I appreciate any insight you could provide around drill holes through this cluster of studs.



Still sounds like column to me.


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## mark handler

I am not duck hunting….


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## HForester

From the OP's description, it is a built-up column. Although the studs in a load bearing wall are "columns" and the IRC does have a hole allowance for such studs, it is limited to 2 (load bearing) studs sandwiched together. For the arrangement that is described either someone put a lot of thought into the anticipated column load (seems like a bunch to me for the size of the column) and it was purpose built it that way or someone simply over-killed it. You will never know until it is analyzed.  You could go to the "bible" :  National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction and try to wade through the calculations....but if you are unfamiliar with the concepts of column buckling, best to get a wood design engineer to glance at it and render an educated opinion.  Or go around it and have a "bump" in the wall. That's what soffits are for.


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## Pcinspector1

TrusJoist allows a hole to be drilled vertically in the bearing area of a 3-1/2-inch beam but has size and spacing limitations. Check with the supplier for location and hole size allowed.


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## my250r11

Best bet to go thru top plate, attic, back down thru top plate at desired location.


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## Dean Rich

Sorry for the confusion in the post.  At the time I wasn't able to figure out how to add images to this forum.  I've found a way now so I'm hoping these pictures clear all of the confusion.  First picture is what I want to drill through.  It'll be a chore going through all of that multiple times (if possible).  The second picture is the girder truss (as I was told its called) that is supported by this column.  The engineered column measures 7" on the face and as far as I can tell runs the full depth of the the 2*6 (so roughly 5.5").  From product pages I have found for weyerhaeuser parallam psl columns they provide a 7"*5.25" column so I'm going with that as the dimension of the column.

I appreciate everyone responses.  I have an update from my city inspector.  I was able to email him with these pictures and he responded with saying he couldn't find anything that said it would be a problem.  I would have felt better if he said I found a document that said the rules for drilling through this configuration are....  He suggested keeping the holes a few inches apart and stay as close to the middle as possible.  I hoped to get a hold of the manufacturer to see what they have to say.  I will do that tomorrow and will update the post with the information that I find.

After posting this I also came to the conclusion that a "soffit" will need to be created to bridge this gap.  Right now that is my plan, but if the manufacturer says holes are allowed I will be going that route.


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## Dean Rich

In addition the reason I'm not going through the top plate and into the joist is that above this area is a living space and our builder put two layers of drywall to separate the living space to fulfill fire code.  Ripping through all that and replacing it is too big of a headache and would rather just add a bump out at the top of the ceiling.  At this point the wall is roughly 10" away from a garage door track so its basically unusable space anyways.  A few inches bumped out there would barely be noticeable and doesn't take up any valuable wall real estate.


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## Rick18071

I hope you know the wire can be exposed. It's just a garage.


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## mark handler

Rick18071 said:


> I hope you know the wire can be exposed. It's just a garage.


When the cable is installed exposed, it must comply with the provisions of 334.15; and if it is determined that the installation is subject to physical damage, then guarding in accordance with 334.15(B) must be considered.


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## Dean Rich

Our garage used to be just a garage but now it'll be a garage with an epoxy floor and cabinets to hide all my tools/kid toys.  I've tapped, mudded, and painted the whole garage.   At this point I might as well go the extra mile to keep a nice clean look.  My original mission was to add an outlet for our chest freezer as the outlet we currently use will be inside one of the cabinets (and I don't want to drill holes through the cabinets to get to the outlet with an extension cord).  Since I'm adding one outlet I want to add more as it seems like builders only build the minimum instead of what is practical in everyday usage.  I hate having to go to the back of my wall to plug something in thats needed for outside so I'm adding outlets right by each garage door also.


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## cda

Dean Rich said:


> Our garage used to be just a garage but now it'll be a garage with an epoxy floor and cabinets to hide all my tools/kid toys.  I've tapped, mudded, and painted the whole garage.   At this point I might as well go the extra mile to keep a nice clean look.  My original mission was to add an outlet for our chest freezer as the outlet we currently use will be inside one of the cabinets (and I don't want to drill holes through the cabinets to get to the outlet with an extension cord).  Since I'm adding one outlet I want to add more as it seems like builders only build the minimum instead of what is practical in everyday usage.  I hate having to go to the back of my wall to plug something in thats needed for outside so I'm adding outlets right by each garage door also.





And no access to the attic over the garage, from inside the garage?


Run flex conduit?? Exposed and hide as best you can?


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## Dean Rich

Unfortunately to see what the joist looks like on that section of the garage I'd need to rip off the drywall and I want to avoid doing any drywall work on the ceiling.  Directly above this part of the ceiling in the garage is a living space which is why I can't see what it looks like from inside the attic.  Adding a small soffit in that wall at the top of the ceiling seems to be the route I'll go.  Easy to install and easy to sheetrock/tape/mud.  I hated all the ceiling work I had to do to tape/mud as we went for a flat finish.  I did contact the column manufacturer who said he can advise if he knows the load calc which I'm seeing if I can get from the builder (our house is only 5 years old and they are still building new homes in our development so they are easy to get a hold of).  The manufacturer said those columns are not cheap so they probably had an engineer decide that column was necessary.


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## Rick18071

wire molding


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## HForester

TRUSS-the magic word.  

2015 IRC
*R502.11.3 Alterations to trusses.*
Truss members and components shall not be cut, notched, spliced or otherwise altered in any way without the approval of a registered design professional.

Remember that the code official has not authority to make design decisions especially when it comes to analyzing structural capacity (unless he is moonlighting registered design professional.)

You received the advice for free; What is it worth?


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## HForester

.......the code official has *no* authority...


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