Odd metallic pole in basement

[Scarpozzi]

My guess is it's holding the beam above it which is load bearing. Are the joists on the ceiling sitting on top of it? The 2x4 studs were probably added after the fact to make that into a wall. Should be safe to remove those, but the pole would have to stay as it probably has it's own footing into the concrete.

It's quite possible there is a footing for the entire wall too, but I would guess that there is not, since if it was built that way from the start they would not have bothered with the pole.

When you construct a wall, you want to have a bottom plate and a top plate. Basically, you cut or order all your 2x4s to be the same size and simply nail them to another 2X4 on top and below to make the wall....then lift it in place and nail it to the floor....and build up....from the top plate, you can attach trusses or beams. In this case, being a basement, they likely have that beam resting on block or concrete walls....added the steel post to keep it from sagging. Because there's no top plate on the wall, you can tell they just built the wall in place around the post. Having said that, it would still bear a load if the beam ever sags and provides a place to hold insulation. Just make sure you don't have moisture coming through any of those walls if you decide to close them up. It's not uncommon for moisture to float through walls and cause mold. It's worth sealing and addressing properly.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Most importantly, why does that pole not have a stripper attached to it?

Most likely scenario is that the stripper was top heaving and the pole couldn`t hold up to the load...….

 

[BoomerD]

Most likely scenario is that the stripper was top heaving and the pole couldn`t hold up to the load...….

A good stripper should always be able to...hold the load.

 

[Thebobo]

There is a secret room behind the brick, its just a decoy

 

[snoopy7548]

I think those are just temporary supports while the glue dries.

 

[skull]

Nothing like having the house collapse on you

It won't collapse when I bought my house the old wooden post supporting the main beam was rotted at the bottom, you could move it around with your pinky and it'd swing from the beam. It had been that way since at least 99 when the kitchen was remodeled and I bought it in 15. The jokers that put the kitchen cabinets in shimmed them to level with 2 inch shims, total the floor had sunk even more than that. You would think the owners would of fixed it. It was the first thing I did sticking a new 6 x 6 post from the footer to the beam.

Contrary to popular belief the beams and joists only really support the floors.

 

[Red Squirrel]

When you construct a wall, you want to have a bottom plate and a top plate. Basically, you cut or order all your 2x4s to be the same size and simply nail them to another 2X4 on top and below to make the wall....then lift it in place and nail it to the floor....and build up....from the top plate, you can attach trusses or beams. In this case, being a basement, they likely have that beam resting on block or concrete walls....added the steel post to keep it from sagging. Because there's no top plate on the wall, you can tell they just built the wall in place around the post. Having said that, it would still bear a load if the beam ever sags and provides a place to hold insulation. Just make sure you don't have moisture coming through any of those walls if you decide to close them up. It's not uncommon for moisture to float through walls and cause mold. It's worth sealing and addressing properly.

It depends, when I did my basement I put the top and bottom places first, using plumb bob to make sure they are level, then put in the studs separately. More work though, but had to because nothing is even, not a single stud measures the same thing lol. For new construction yeah you'd build the walls on the ground then lift them in place. For load bearing walls you probably want to double up on the top and bottom plate too.