Steel beam v oak beam

Furn462

I'm having a wall removed soon and have got the structural engineer coming next week to do the necessary calcs. When the builder came to look at the job he said that we could opt for an oak beam rather than a boxed in steel RSJ as it would be more in-keeping with the cottage.

Does anyone know of the cost differential between the two? We're talking about a beam which will be around 2.75m in length.

Thanks in advance.
Furn

Furn462

Nice idea - I assume that you mean stick three oak planks onto the casing. Having looked around I've seen a website where they do basically a hollowed out oak beam to encase the steel RSJ - still pretty costly though.

Thanks.

DavidFx

It depends on the beam loading and what it's supporting. If it is supporting upstairs floor joists then green oak will be fine. If it is supporting masonry then steel is the way to go as the oak will shrink and split over time. Green Oak can be sourced at any decent sawmill and costs about £20 cu ft so a 6" x 6" x 9' beam will cost about £45.

ListysDad

You also have to consider the fire proofing of a steel beam. So take advice from your local building control first.