Documents or a site visit, depending on conditions
Beam and Header Sizing Letters, Sealed by a Texas PE
Taking a wall out, or opening one up. The beam gets sized against the real loads, the bearing gets checked, and the load path gets followed all the way down instead of stopping at the ceiling.
Opening soon
Sealed Engineering is not yet accepting orders. Firm registration is pending with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and no engineering services are being offered or performed under this brand until it is granted. Founding customers on the waitlist are contacted first when ordering opens.
What sizing a beam actually involves
The beam itself is the easy part. What the wall carries is the hard part, and it is where most rule of thumb sizing goes wrong.
The analysis starts with tributary width: how much of the roof and floor above actually lands on this wall. That depends on whether the framing above spans across the wall or bears on it, whether there is a second floor, whether the roof is stick framed or trussed, and whether the trusses are simple span or bear at an interior point. A wall that looks load bearing and is not, and a wall that looks like a partition and is carrying half a roof, are both common in Texas housing stock.
Then the loads: dead load of the construction above, live load per the adopted code for the occupancy, and roof live or snow load as the jurisdiction requires. Deflection usually governs on longer residential spans rather than bending, which is why a beam that is strong enough can still be the wrong beam.
Then the material: dimensional lumber built up, engineered lumber such as LVL or PSL, or steel. Each has different depth for a given span, and depth is often what decides the answer because the ceiling height that can be given up is fixed.
The part that gets skipped: the load path down
A beam concentrates what used to be a distributed load into two points. Those points now have to be carried by something. That means jack and king studs sized for the reaction, a bearing condition at each end that does not crush the plate, and a path from that bearing through the floor framing below into the foundation.
On a slab on grade this is usually straightforward and still has to be stated. On a pier and beam home, or on a second floor opening, the point load frequently lands somewhere that was never designed for it, and the correct answer includes a post, a footing, or a beam below. A sizing letter that stops at the header is a letter that will either be rejected in plan review or, worse, accepted and built.
What comes back
The letter names the member, the span, the material and grade, the bearing required at each end, the studs or posts carrying the reaction, and what happens below them. Where a temporary shoring condition matters, it is stated. Where the existing conditions could not be verified and the design depends on an assumption, the assumption is written down rather than buried.
What arrives
- A sealed and signed letter with the beam or header specified by size, material, and grade.
- The design loads, tributary width, and code edition used.
- Required bearing length at each end, and the jack and king stud count.
- The load path below the bearing points, stated to the foundation.
- A framing sketch where the condition needs one to be unambiguous.
- Digital PDF with the seal applied, ready for the permit portal.
A document review when the attic photographs establish the framing. A site visit only when they cannot.
What has to exist first
An engineer seals what the evidence supports, so this list is the work rather than the paperwork around it. Anything missing is named rather than assumed.
- Photographs of the wall, both sides, plus what is directly above it.
- The clear opening width wanted, and the ceiling height available for beam depth.
- Attic photographs showing the framing above the wall: rafters, trusses, or floor joists, with direction.
- Floor plan or a dimensioned sketch showing where the wall sits.
- Number of stories, roof type, and roof covering.
- Foundation type: slab on grade or pier and beam.
- Property address and jurisdiction.
Beam and Header Sizing Letters: common questions
How do I know if the wall is load bearing?
The reliable test is what is above it, not what it looks like. A wall running perpendicular to the joists or rafters above and supporting their ends is bearing. A wall running parallel between them usually is not. Trusses complicate it, because a truss can be designed to bear at an interior point. Attic photographs answer it, which is why they are the first thing the intake asks for.
Can I just use a span table from the lumberyard?
A span table tells you what a member can carry. It does not tell you what this wall is carrying, whether the bearing at each end is adequate, or what happens to the point loads below. That gap is why plan review asks for a sealed letter on wall removals, and it is where the failures actually occur.
Will I need a steel beam?
Sometimes, usually when the span is long and the available depth is short. Engineered lumber covers most residential openings and is far easier to install without a crane. What decides it is span, load, and the ceiling height you are willing to lose, and the letter will say which one the conditions support rather than defaulting to the expensive answer.
What if the wall has already been removed?
That is an existing condition assessment rather than a design, and it can still be sealed. What is possible depends on what can be observed: the temporary or permanent support in place, the framing above, and whether anything has moved. Say so at intake, because it changes the scope and the honest scope is cheaper than a rejected letter.
Does this cover the foundation under the new point loads?
The letter follows the load path down and states what is required at the foundation. Where an existing footing is inadequate and a new one is required, that is specified. Where the existing foundation cannot be evaluated from what was submitted, that limitation is written into the letter rather than assumed away.
Where this is ordered most in Texas
Wind speed, soil, and the permit office all change by market, and so does what this document has to address. These pages are written for the market rather than templated across it.
Often needed alongside this
- Documents or site visitStructural Letters for PermitsPlan review asked for a sealed letter and the project stopped. This is the deliverable that restarts it: a specific structural question answered, sealed, and addressed to the reviewer who asked.What it contains
- Documents or site visitRepair Specification LettersSomething structural is damaged and somebody has to say exactly how it gets fixed. This is that document: the repair specified in buildable detail, sealed, and written so plan review and the contractor read the same thing.What it contains
- Site visit requiredFoundation Repair PlansThe repair designed before it is bid: pier type, locations, depth, and design load specified by an engineer who is not selling the piers.What it contains
Need a beam and header sizing letter?
Start with the property address and we will tell you exactly what else is needed.
Opening soon. Founding customers get first turnaround slots.