If you have started researching this, you have probably seen a list: steel, LVL, glulam, flitch, and a few others. The lists are accurate and they are also not very useful, because they answer a question nobody has.
Nobody needs to know which beam is best. There is no best. What is worth understanding is what makes one right for your house, so that when someone proposes one you can ask a sensible question about it.
The four things that decide it
Almost every beam decision comes down to some combination of these.
How far it has to span. The distance the beam has to cross without support. Longer spans need more capacity, and capacity usually costs depth, weight, or both.
How much load it has to carry. Ceiling only is a different problem from a floor above, which is a different problem again from roof structure landing on that line. Two openings the same width can need very different beams.
How much depth is available. This is the constraint people do not anticipate. A beam has to fit. If you want a flush ceiling with nothing visible below it, the beam has to live inside the floor structure, and that limits how deep it can be. Accepting a beam that hangs below the ceiling opens up options and usually simplifies everything.
How it gets into the house, and what happens at the ends. A beam has to physically arrive and be manoeuvred into position through a finished house. And the load it collects has to be carried down through posts or framing at each end, all the way to the foundation. The ends are as much of the design as the beam is, and they are the part that gets underestimated.
The options you will hear named
Described so you recognise them. Which one suits your project is a design decision.
Engineered lumber, often called LVL or laminated veneer lumber. Manufactured from layers of wood bonded together. Common in residential work because it is predictable, and it can be handled and fixed with ordinary carpentry. Often used in multiples side by side.
Glulam. Also engineered wood, made from bonded layers. Sometimes chosen where the beam will be visible, since it can be finished to be presentable.
Steel, usually a rolled section. Strong for its depth, which is what makes it useful when there is a long span or very little room. The cost is weight and handling. A steel beam is heavy, sometimes needs to be craned or brought in in pieces, and the connections need proper detailing.
Flitch beam. Timber and steel plate bolted together. A hybrid that appears where the strength of steel is wanted but the practicalities of a solid steel section do not suit the site.
Built up dimensional lumber. Standard lumber fastened together in multiples. Suits shorter spans and lighter loads.
Why "which is better" is the wrong question
Steel is not better than engineered lumber. A steel beam that is difficult to get into position, needs more work at its bearing points, and solves a problem you did not have is a worse outcome than a wood beam that fits.
The considerations that actually trade off:
- Depth against span. Less available depth pushes toward stronger material.
- Weight against access. Heavier sections are harder to get in and set.
- Visible against concealed. Whether it is hidden changes both the option and the cost.
- Simplicity at the ends. What is straightforward to support beats what is theoretically efficient.
What we deliberately are not doing here
We are not going to tell you which beam suits a given span. You will find pages that do, and span tables that look definitive.
The reason is that the span is one input out of several. The same width opening in two houses can need different answers depending on what is above, what the ends can carry, what depth exists, and how the load reaches the foundation. A number from a table that does not know your house is not a shortcut. It is a guess wearing the clothes of an answer.
Beam selection, the connections, the temporary support while the wall is out, and the load path down to the foundation are decisions that need someone looking at your specific structure.
A note on engineering and Texas
Texas law does not require a licensed professional engineer for every alteration to a private dwelling. The Engineering Practice Act contains an exemption covering private dwellings, subject to conditions, and you can read it in Texas Occupations Code section 1001.056.
That statutory exemption is a separate matter from what the City of Houston requires to issue a permit. The city's published guidance for a residential remodel permit calls for plans showing bearing conditions and the location of the header and beam, and notes that structural drawings may be required depending on scope. See the Houston Permitting Center.
We are describing what these sources published as of our review on 11 August 2026. They are not our promise about your project, and requirements depend on scope and can change. Confirm what applies to your address.
What to ask whoever is quoting your job
Useful questions, in order:
- What is carrying the load above this wall right now, and where does it go?
- What beam are you proposing, and what decided it?
- Will it be visible or concealed, and what does that change?
- What is holding the load at each end, and how does it get to the foundation?
- What is holding the house up while the wall is out?
- What is being submitted for permit, and who is submitting it?
You do not need to evaluate the answers technically. You need to hear that there are answers. Someone who has looked at your structure will have them. Someone who has not will change the subject to price.
Talk to us
We remove structural walls in the Houston area and leave a documented opening ready for whatever gets built next. We take care of permitting when the work requires it. If you are weighing an opening and want to understand what it would involve, get in touch.