We do this fairly regularly, but our typical underpinning consists of cast-in-place friction piles 25-30 feet long. The way we detail them with one of our repeat clients allows for jacking of the house to an extent. We've pushed some houses an impressive amount back to somewhat level. But none...
I can't say I've ever known anyone to take this into account directly. But yet this unequal spans, or different framing schemes on each side of flush beams, is extremely common. Often due to the physical dimensions of the beams, they're inherently more stable for torsion. The one time I actually...
My former mother-in-law asked for my help designing her pergola. I gracefully declined. When she asked why, I said because after a season or two, you're going to want to cover it in a roof and/or walls.
She said she wouldn't. I still didn't help.
I did however help erect it after they did...
If you dig into fire rating of heavy timber, the char layer develops and then provides protection for the remainder of the wood. So there's some credence to improving fire resistance by providing an intentional char layer on the materials.
Not counting on the roof, assuming it has plywood, is being overly conservative in my mind.
What if? You can't plan for future removal of structure in every project, or else you must be panicking all the time. What if someone busted out the slab adjacent the wall to put in a new sump pit? I've...
He may need the depth for frost. Where I practice the frost is routinely over 6 feet. 8 foot basements are the norm.
This wall has the loads on it that are there. The roof diaphragm would provide support for the top of the wall.
We always sawcut slabs-on-grade except in extremely rare cases. And in those cases, we're providing something like 0.5% Ag as the steel to mitigate the size and randomness of the cracking.
We also specify that the contractor needs to layout the sawcuts before the pours, and cut half of the bars...
Have a plan in place, even if just in your back pocket, for what you're going to do if you discover voids in the wall when you remove the insulation to do any reinforcing for the opening. I've had it on multiple instances where there are notable, unacceptable voids in ICF walls.
Vibration is going to be the largest concern for a running track. I'd do some digging into that side of things and then come back with questions. I anticipate needing likely stiffer than even what you're proposing to keep the vibration checks in place.
When I do these, I notch the column and beam to allow a bearing connection for the brace. And I also only design them for compression. When in tension I ignore the contribution.
I don't have an answer for you, but this is a super interesting question that I can 100% see coming up.
Forgive the question, I'm away from a code and you seem to have done a bit of digging already, but are the extra requirements you mention in 4.1.8.1.18 for the lower seismic loading change...
That's all well and good, but money talks and trusses are the best bang for your buck. If I tried forcing ridge beams on every client, I'd be out of designing houses where I practice.
You likely won't get someone telling you this is fine. Are you an engineer? If so, the design aspect is easy and we can certainly point you in the right direction. If not, hire an engineer.
