The beam that's in my basement running the length of the house is held up by 2 posts about a 1/3 each way from the walls. The beam is 5x7. And is sagging between posts an inch or so. Causing the upstairs floors to really squeak. I am looking to replace the beam and wanted to keep the height close to the 7 inch beam already in. Would wood or steel the better way to go? I was thinking of using lam beams. I kinda wanted to just keep the 2 posts and not add more. Could anyone give me a few thoughts on what to use?

I think much more information is needed. What is the span between the posts? What is the length of the joists running perpendicular to the beam? What are the posts made out of? Are they wood or lally columns? You may need a deeper beam which would require modifying the size of the posts.

The span between posts and walls is close to 12 ft. The size of the joists are 23 ft and the beam is 10 ft to the one side. The posts are wood. I didn't really mean I wanted to reuse the same posts but use wooden posts again because some outlets and a handrail attached to the posts now.

A question of this scope cannot be answered here.

You need to consult your local building code authority along with a structural engineer or qualified architect to calculate all the building's load on this particular beam and the posts that will bear them.

Only then can you get a proper answer to your question concerning size of beam and placement of support columns.

Homebild is correct; this is not the proper place to ask a question of this nature.

A site visit would necessary to determine the load on the beam and the span to be able to size the beam and columns.

ALL STRUCTURAL RELATED QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED BY A STRUCTURAL ENGINEER OR QUALIFIED GENERAL CONTRACTOR THAT IS LICENSED IN THE SAME STATE AS THE PROJECT.

Please do not ask questions of a structural nature on this board.

Glenn
www.consultationdirect.com