To cut or not to cut sagging ceiling joists
cfrizzle
10 years ago
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years agoRelated Discussions
replacing sagging floor joists- Advice anyone?
Comments (9)Since these joists are going to have "memories" of this sagging shape, I think it will be hard to jack it up into position. Since you want to maintain headroom in the basement I would put a main beam in the middle of the floor engineered for the span. Maybe two LVL's around a 1/2" steel flitch plate, bolted together. You would cut out a gap down the middle of all the floor joists. Insert the LVL sandwich and jack it into the height you want. Attach the individual joists to the LVL sandwich. This will require temporary support walls, jacking into position both sides of the bisected joists and a few other issues. If there's a second floor involved, it's more complicated due to the extra loads involved. Depending on the depth of sag, expect to patch walls and possible rehang doors. The size of the beam would need to be spec'ed out by someone who knows what they're doing. This is not a "best guess" project. Ron...See MoreCutting Joists for skylights
Comments (4)I think I get what you are saying, and I plan to do that. I figure, if I remove 4 joists, I need to add 4 joists sistered at the edges of the opening (two on each side). I am not so worried about supporting the plaster and live loads, but curious about top plate spread/rafter sag. Can you mitigate this with strapping on a diagonal from center of shortened joists at the top plate to the new doubled/triple sistered joists? Maybe this is just crazy talk from an engineer (non-structural). But if I interrupt the joists in tension over a 6 foot opening (breaking the rafter truss triangle, wonâÂÂt that 6 ft opening begin to spread regardless of how many joists I put on either side? Is everything is stiff enough where this is not a concern?...See Moresagging joist fix - please help!
Comments (4)Sammy, it looks like the vertical pieces are toenailed to the horizontal ones. Looks like a quick, dirty & cheap fix that is just OK. At the very least, I would prefer to see a clean 90 degree cut on the old beam with a tight friction fit between the old and new. And some steel mending plates (both sides, front and back) to tie the new splice into the old beam and the new vertical supports. Preferred fix would involve quite a lot more work. As in getting those plywood structures (shelving?) out of the way and splicing in a new plate that spans the opening and goes back under at least one of the other floor joists on both sides. Sistered 2 bys on edge w/ stagged let-ins on the old plate, glued & screwed. Tight fit w/ steel mending plates/ strapping. With vertical support at the crawl space opening...where you could have used a single 2x on either side and preserved more of the opening. More work in tight quarters and need temporary supports for the joists while fitting in the new repair. $$ Not a fun job....See MoreSagging Joist, need help!
Comments (5)"Are you saying you would jack up one inch in one day?" Yes. "For flitch plate, would you only put on one side of each joist?" Yes. "I'm guessing these plates must be custom made?" Only in the sense that you have to have them cut to length....See Morecfrizzle
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