Age and type of house
The coach-house floor is the garage ceiling and a false ceiling hides the steel. What beam size was not measured?
No beam size was measured. The coach-house floor is the garage ceiling, and a false ceiling hides the steel, so the survey could not put a tape on the beam. Depth, width and the number of members are unknown. The inspection has recorded the false ceiling and the fact of a floor over a garage. It has not measured the steel, not calculated whether it is adequate, and not invented a size from the span it could pace. Hidden steel has no size in this report.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Coach houses often put a room over an open garage, and the steel that carries that floor is the structural point. A false ceiling is a finish. It may hide a beam, a plate, or nothing you can name. Until it is opened, the survey is describing a ceiling, not a section of steel. Pacing the garage gives a sense of the opening. It does not give the beam's depth or its bearing. The report should not be read as a structural calculation that was never made.
If you need the size, ask for the ceiling to be opened under a proper arrangement, and have the steel measured then. Tell the solicitor the survey could not measure it. Do not tell a lender the beam has been checked. It has not. Any drawing in the papers is not a substitute for a measurement the inspection did not take.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the steel hidden by the false ceiling throughout the garage?
- Did you measure any beam size, or was none available?
- Have you left adequacy uncalculated because the section was unseen?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the beam size as unknown, not as adequate.
- Do not tell a lender the hidden steel was checked.
- Arrange an opening-up if the section must be measured.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the floor feels firm, has the beam passed?
No. A firm floor is how it felt underfoot. It is not a measured section and not a calculation. The false ceiling still hides the steel. The survey has not sized the beam and has not passed it. Firmness is not a size.
Can the seller's brochure dimension be written into the survey?
No. A brochure figure is the seller's paper. The survey did not measure the steel and will not adopt a printed size as its own. Hidden steel stays unmeasured until someone sees it. A printed number is not that measurement.