Lally Columns Video

In this video, Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus.com discusses lally columns and the structural support role they play in your home.

Lally columns are support columns that are specially designed to support beams and timbers that stretch long spans. A lally column is a steel pipe that is filled with concrete. Often you can find them in basements, crawl spaces, and garages. One end of the lally column attaches to the concrete floor or footing pad, where it rests on a lally column support plate, or it is literally immersed in the concrete floor.

The other end of the lally column rests up underneath a beam, and again is held into place via a steel support plate. A lally column should never be moved or cut without the prior evaluation by a structural engineer. Removing or cutting a lally column could cause the above floor to sag causing cracks in the drywall and flooring. In a worst case scenario you could potentially even bring a portion of the home down on you.

In basement remodeling projects the typical solution for dealing with lally columns is to either hide the lally column in a wall or somehow include it in the floor plan as a decor accessory. Lally columns are typically sized to bury into either 2×4 or 2×6 framed walls. In a decor accessory type solution the lally column is often boxed in or a decorative column is placed around it.

When a lally column is used in a garage one of the best ways to prevent car door dings is to wrap a piece of carpet or foam insulation padding around the bottom 3 or 4 feet of it.