This article was originally published Sept. 21, 2016. It was updated Feb. 2, 2023. Engineers designing sheet metal parts and products are often unaware of the difficulties or impossible tasks their ...

DEAR TIM: I’m getting ready to build a large room addition that needs a beam to support the floor joists. I’ve been told that a wood beam will work, but I’ve always seen steel I-beams in other houses.

Many renovated buildings replace wood and masonry structural elements with steel. The replacement of heavy wooden roof and floor joists with the lighter steel open-web bar-truss joists is a common ...

Q. I'm getting ready to build a large room addition that needs a beam to support the floor joists. I've been told that a wood beam will work, but I've always seen steel I-beams in other houses. Is it ...