fitting a steel beam using needles and acrow props the best way 

Exactly the way I do it, only other thing I do is take some photos of the outside walls in case there’s any existing cracks etc that the client at the end try’s to say was you!

Good one done a good few steels only difference is instead of the stud wall I'd put in a second line of props with scaffolding planks tying in the joist's .See you got your steel reinforce with a top plate . Always check your props first thing in the morning , might get about quarter turn . Lot of heavy work .👍🇮🇪🍀 Stay safe

Robin I've done a hell of a lot of DIY building work on my home over the years, but this is a the point where I finally call in a pro. Thanks.

As an approved inspector I see a lot of people installing steels, and it certainly isn’t a job to be undertaken without prior thought. You explained the process well. A lot of people don’t go slow enough or do enough planning but I like your method. Great videos, keep them coming.

Great to see a fellow builder doing things properly! Needles and supports galore!!

Amazing, so you are a top builder and structural engineer on addition to all the woodworking skills. Great video.

Another top quality video love your vids I’m a landscaper and build a lot of timber products for customers and your carpentry skills have tought me a lot and got me out of some difficult situations keep the vids coming

Wow you actually know what you're doing! A rare find on youtube builder vids. Very useful, thanks!!

Did this on the back of an old Victorian property with 500mm width rubble filled stonework. There were 2 beams at 250kg each; one on the floor and one on the top with a steel post each side. The beams were dumped half a mile away as the lorry couldn’t get down the side streets (small Victorian roads). We had to get these beams through a 2ft basement window, through a kitchen, a lounge then into position. We had 5 blokes lumping them bit by bit. If anybody’s worked on old stonework you’ll know that the rubble falls out of the middle.... interesting job. Didnt know you did this sort of work Robin. I guess when your in the trade you inevitably end up doing other work, not just your trade. Cheers mate.

You are one fantastic builder! Thanks for the real quality info 🙏🏻

Hi Robin, this is the type of video I would love to see more of, but I also love all your other vids as well!

Nice one Robin. Thanks for the video. Always look forward to your postings! Cheers

I really enjoy watching all your vids, very informative and really good at explaining the reasoning behind everything you do, your methodology is sound. People often forget that there can be a lot of load carried on a back wall. Too many times I go to site and see strong boys holding up a back wall. There are some horror stories out there. Keep up the good vids.

Mr Robin, you are gifted

Technical as ever and lovely neat job as usual. Like you say used to do a lot of that type of work in England. Never knew what I was doing only how to do it. Thankfully never lost one. Where I am in Oz mostly tin roofs no weight to speak of. Not many brick homes. We cut openings with minimal support and small ones with none. Tie down to stop them blowing away is more of an issue than load in most cases. Different World and like learning a new trade.

Yes Robin at least I now know that we do it safely each time. Thank you

Great content, thanks a lot! It just gives so many safe guarding to prevent any fault/undesired situation.

The timber frame idea is perfect..peice of mind as safety comes first with any structural load.

Nicely explained and great safety built in. Thanks Robin.

I am a bit late watching this one Robin, I really like the stud wall inside and particularly like the progressive supports for the steel as it you raise it. That is always a critical point. Very few people prepare for worse case scenario. Excellent work.

Great work again Robin. 👍🏽

thank you Robin for sharing your knowhow, brilliant buildability wise

Great video, Love the idea of the timber safety props either end. On some big knock throughs ie:installation of a portal frame or box frame we also run a scaffold tube through the lines of acro props to tie them together.

Brilliant Robin! Looking forward to some more, keep up the good work 👍🏻

Always enjoy you & the skill build guys work 👍 Proper Craftsmanship 👏👏😉

Definitely not my favourite job to do but also one of the most satisfying when that steel gets in place and the acrow’s are under it so I’m looking forward to this just to see how you do it

Amazing job as always

Spot on, exactly as it should be. Nice work 👍

Nice work Robin (as always!), good to see you're using needles, I see so many builders these days using Strongboy type props for everything however big the load is.

Thanks Robin. You have a really sensible method described here, and thanks for all the safety tips. I will be recommending this video to my steel beam calculation clients. 👍

It's a little known fact that Robin is an actor and there's an old guy called Ted who really does all the work.

thanks for this video, excellent work

Very well explained. I am taking a leap this year and starting my own internal renovations company. Been building flats for a decade now. 16 hour days project managing and it is robbing my soul. I need my freedom.

Looking forward to this, should be very interesting. Cheers till later on Robin.

Very good explanation 👍

Thanks Robin. Very informative.

Really great, thank you Robin!

Thanks just the instruction I needed.

So much knowledge

thank you so much , very informative video

Not done this for years but we used to use longer needles and cut round the bearings and roll them big concrete boot lintels of and just concrete them in the oversite.

Hey Robin cracking video, great explanination and workmanship, my apologies if I talked to much on the live stream i have always held you in high regard, it’s your amazing talent with the pride and passion that you are a true master craftsman all the best Tony 👍

Very thorough👍

Top job mate👌

Good job Robin I would like to see a follow up, to see how it turns out or another video on the progress of the build..

Cracking job

Another interesting video. Thanks, Robin. Just one little point. The critical part of moving the steel while raised, into its final position (which I think is the most dangerous part of the operation) was fast forwarded. It would have been good to see that in real time. 😁

Very interesting and informative robin 👍

The beam takes the triangle of wall above the beam, plus the floor loads and transfers them down to either side. That’s why it has to be on dense concrete pads often with engineering brick “nibs” to take the weight down the walls either side. When I did mine, I put Acrow props on the inside to hold up the floor. Six more props (three inside and three outside) supported tubes cut through the wall which carried the weight of the wall. The gap was filled with mortar and natural slate as packing.

All those calculations makes you sound like an engineer that lost his way and became a chippy..... good sound advice for people to calculate on basics and apply some common sense... gold star.

Robin 7:27 in the video - get some new boots ya tight git!! Great job, it always brings a smile to my face when I see this kind of job being done properly, the old "arrr we will only need 2 needles and the old 2 acros will do that" so many excuses as to not do a proper job because they got away with it 10 years ago on a job. Gravity and mass is not to be messed with or guessed. Keep the content coming!! Keep the hair short too it takes a whack off your perceived age!!? perhaps 42 at a push for this video :) Thumbs up.

Good idea removing the needles gradually me. 👌

Great video and information. Got my like and sub

Great video

Was this live?? I am just catching now! Great stuff as ever Robin. I am a 39r old seeking a carpentry apprentice in Ireland and wondering if its possible to learn the craft from anyone anywhere in the world that does their work as pristinely and meticulously as you!! Amazing stuff, a joy to have you explain and demonstrate! Maidhc in Cork, Ireland

Hi Robin, great video and methodology used. I had an interesting one recently which was in an old building in Sydney city and was an old wool shearing shed near the old docks. There were two timber beams that looked like they were scavenged off an old timber ship, they were massive. There was two of them bolted together. The termites had gotten into the timber and eaten the majority of the inside of the beam. I had to remove it much like you did, section by section and then new lintels and brick it up bit by bit to take the loads above. The old bricks on that building were hand made by the original convicts sent here. I say variety to your work is key so you don't stagnate, I prefer this kind of work where it is like a game of chess, careful planning and execution otherwise one wrong move and it's check mate. Cheers 👍

Hi Robin you are a true master my friend love your energy and passion attention to everything!!was wondering i can't see in video the sides , what widths on the pillars .keep them coming

Nice one....Here in Victoria the building regs require demolition of this type to be engineered. Whilst this involves a cost I think it's worth it given it eliminates the guess work. Also id it goes arse up you can blame the engineer

On more complex steel work I tie all the acros props together with a long scaffold pole. Helps me to stop me munching on my boxers.

Thanks for sharing. I'm a structural engineer going into construction. Surprised the engineer didn't suggest a moment frame if the entire ground floor external wall is being knocked. One of the things building control moan about for the frame to resist wind loads.

Nice 👍

Hi Robin, did you use the slate to force your deflection? Thought you might prefer a hard wood wedge. Great vid as always. Keep up the good work.

Great job, similar to how we do it but we get the inside skin in first dry pack it then take out outside skin then drop that steel in? Instead of stud wall, couldn’t you just do a number of arco props with double scaffold boards top and board. Save you money? Top job though?

very nice apart from the stud work just how i was tort todo it.

Awesome video as ever RC. May I ask how is the roof of the extension supported on the existing external wall? It looks like a substantial piece of timber has been fixed/screwed to the brickwork with the new extension joists notch cut and resting on it. If so, would that leave the timbers at risk of moisture that moves through brickwork? Cheers

Great work as always Robin. What size and thickness are the rectangular sections you're using as needles?

Brilliant job.

Hi Robin, great video as usual. I would be interested to know how much load was being picked up in that situation? Thanks

At the start of the video you can see the end grain of the rafter up against the brick work. They have been notched to sit on the ledger. Is this personal preference over joist hangers or does it depend on what the local authority want/say?

Hi. Re the steel beam, does it sit on damp proof membrane or do you use it at all re the beam.

great video. just wondering about the size of your needles. they look like 100 x 50 RHS ?

Hi mate, what mix do you use for the dry packing?

If you can see the joists, is it essential to remove the plasterboard before putting in the acrows?

Great video yet again Robin Its great to see someone who is knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. I have a question about how you got the calculations done for the beam and how you got away with just a single top beam and not a goal post system or a box frame. Just doing my house currently and had 3 engineers come around they all wanted an over the top set up. Its only a 5m beam in a two bed house just up the road from you in Westcott just outside of Dorking

Very good. Can I ask a question. I have an old house the beam was out in a long time ago. But opening up some dodgy hardboard round it. I found that there is wood what might have been a lintel from the old house but just bits. Can I leave it as the house hasn’t moved or the walls on the top cracked. So it seems fine. It should I have e it take out and a pad put in. Not sure about the other side of the beam supposed as not got to that bit.

Great video. It looks as though you have inserted your needles on different courses in some places. Is there any particular reason for this?

Genie lifts are okay but have there cons. There are special beam lifters about that are even better for most lifts. 👍

Just subscribed, I'm a QS in Ireland and this video is very helpful. Approx how many man hours would you say does it take to do one needle and pin including making good after?

how much would cost fitting steel beam 6m long. roughly ? which part England your base is ?

Great video. How did you prepare the internal floor for all the acros and temporary stud wall?

Really interesting, thanks Robin! Am I right in saying this is a solid wall, and if there was a cavity you'd require a steel for each skin? Cheers

Thanks for the informative video. Was this a drop or concealed beam for the finished look?

Thanks for the video Robin, have you come across any good ideas for retaining loose fill cavity insulation? I’ve got to make an 2m wide opening through a gable wall of a bungalow, I wondered if drilling all round at regular spacing and squirting expanding foam in would work? Otherwise it’s a garden full of polystyrene beads🥴

👍

we need robin clevett outakes...lol

Hi Robin I think the higher you can get these steels the better. Did you not think about taking it higher and having the joists run into the web of the steel in order to have the ceiling running level through.

Hi Robin, did you have to dig down and put extra support under the existing foundation? I am going to be doing a job like this soon but on a slightly smaller scale and just interested to see if you did. Cheers

Hi I noticed you don’t have very deep masonary pillars My steel beam is prob similar in length maybe 5.5mtrs they have suggested I build 900 mm masonry pillars each side it really eats into the space Can I upgrade the steel width to make sure I have thin pillars

Hi Robin, Great video. I have recently had a 2.5m steel put in place downstairs of my timber frame house. The steel was put in on a load bearing and wind ‘resisting’ (not sure if that’d the correct term!) wall. I have now noticed that upstairs - on the opposite side of the house and in other areas too, that there are 2-3mm cracks between the bottom of coving and top of plasterboard - and this spans the width of entire walls in some instances. Could this be as a result of the steel not being correctly installed, or could it also be as a result of the drilling which happened on area where the steel was installed. Basically, after the opening was created, there were bricks along the floor which needed to come out and I’m wondering if this heavy drilling might have been the cause of the cracks, or is it more likely that it’s the installation of the beam? Thanks 🙏

Hi thanks for video. Very well explained.. My question is , I’m removing load bearing wall for a patio door opening is 355cm and high is 230cm .. how many needles do I need ? It’s 9” wall. Thanks Regards kaz

How do you pressure the beam up against the overhead wall or is packing it enough after it sits on the pad stones. I've always wondered how one can minimize play once the pins are released.

I put the padstones in last. That way I am able to put a line of mortar on the top of the beam. I jack it up so I have a good bed for the wall..

"Wedge and pinning" I was told a long time ago. No one knows what I am talking about nowadays. "Hope and a prayer" seems to be the order of the day when judging whether one has charged the new beam sufficiently enough with force to avoid a dreaded a second wave of forces causing more beam deflection and possible cracks to the masonry. How do you tell? Is it the sound the hammer makes when it is just right? "Overdesigning" cheap steel beams does help, but still, the crack risk must be a constant worry.

great video, thankfully it's a small section steel, and not one of those huge, awkward to handle ones with a plate on

Is that just one steel in and not two - one over each course then bolted together?

😊👍.

great video ,,did you dry pack the beam with slate ?

Always remember to keep your acrows perfectly plum you be surprised how many people don't until they see one snap 🔨

Robin could you do a video on boxing in the steels, I always find this a labour intensive job, and wonder if you have any tricks. Enjoyed this one , hope your keeping well !

Hi Robin great video - so informative. One question, I presume the stud wall was a permanent structure? If not, why not use acrow props instead there?