Beam seen or not beam seem, that is the question.
The point of a steel beam is to support a load. When an existing wall is knocked down during refurbishment work, a steel beam is put in its place to support the wall and floor above it.
Often as not, you’ll see the beam spanning across a ceiling, taking the place of the wall that used to be there.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in certain commercial designs it’s perfectly normal and lots of retail establishments utilise beams to enhance the 'industrial look’.
In residential projects we advise clients to try and avoid having the steel beam showing. It offers a cleaner, seamless and more spacious look.
The technique hides the beam into the ceiling void so that the joists of the floor above are either hung off or fitted into the beam.
The technique is a more costly option because it requires more work, but we think it looks better.
