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replumbing 1920s bathroom

14 years ago

Hi There,

We're in the process of redoing the plumbing in our upstairs bathroom. Somewhere in the past there was a repair made in which two joists were cut in half. They happen to be the two surrounding the toilet. I plan to remedy this by sistering new joists along side the old joists, and gluing/nailing them together. Photo of the damage:

From bathroom remodel

Her's a rough layout of the plumbing:

From bathroom remodel

Blue are joists, pink is fixtures and red is drain pipe. The green scribbles are where the joists are cut. My question is, is there a better way to route the bathtub drain, then through all of those joists? Below this space is the finished hallway.

Thanks,

Gil

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Comments (2)

dopeonplastic
13 years ago
I faced a similar situation after opening up the ceiling of my 1940's bathroom, on ceiling joist was cut all the way through to allow room for a lead bend. Unfortunately, sistering wasn't really a choice since there was very little clearance. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to use some 1/4" thick steel angle iron. I bolted a four foot length to either side of the cut joist. I did this at the top of the joist (just below the floor above) and the bottom (just above the bath room ceiling). I drilled 3/8" in the steel/wood every 8 inches and used a piece of threaded rod and some bolts and lock washers. I torqued the sh!t out of everything and it all seems pretty good.
I figure if the cut's been there for 60 years and there's no deflection in either end of the cut joist, there must not be too much of a load on that area and some steel is better than nothing.
brickeyee
13 years ago
There are metal plates designed to reinforce joist with large holes, but they are not rated for a complete cut joist.

You can put wood or metal on both sides of the joist at the top and bottom to restore its strength, but AHJs usually want to see an engineers stamp on the fix.
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