Hi there, I currently have a situation where part of my second storey house is supported by 3 metal post/columns, but I want to modify it so that I can drive a car through the 3 metal post (ie. make the gap wider between 2 of the post) I imagine this will probably be achieved by replacing 2 of the post to a thicker post, and adding a steel beam or something similar between the 2 thicker post... but how would I go about doing this? ie how can I support the house while replacing the post and adding the beam etc.? What is the easiest way? Thanks in advance for any help... :D [IMG]http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1161/housevw.jpg[/IMG]

I recently bought a house that has an enclosed patio addition (W 13' x H 7' x L 21'). Trusses perpendicular to the length of the room were used to set up the the roof and ceiling. I want to make a cathedral ceiling in the room to make it more part of the homes original construction (1983) and has a cathedral ceiling in the living room. I want to cut the bottoms off the trusses one at a time and move it up on the inverted v shape 24 inches. This would keep the inverted v from collapsing while allowing for a gradual slope up from the outside walls. The second part of the renovation is more straight forward with the removal of the outside brick which is still in the enclosed room. I'll be taking out two windows between the addition and the dining area of the house enclose the openings with sheet rock and sheet rocking the addition wall. Then I want add headers and replace the 32 inch door and install some nice pocket doors (36 inch each) between the addition and dinning area allowing for a large 72 inches opening. I won't loose any floor space due to door swing. The pocket doors will allow me to shut off the room when I don't want to keep it at the same temperature as the rest of the house. The addition has its own window style heat pump in the wall. The main house has a down draft heat and air system. Finally I want to remove the sliding glass door and put in French doors to the outside. The structural change of the trusses should not cause any problem as they are still held together just 24 inches higher than where they are now. Do you see any major issues with the cathedral ceiling or the pocket doors??