Adding On To Floor Joists

And i d like to know if i rip some inch plywood and sister it up against the 2x6s and glue and screw it if that would be sufficient.

Adding on to floor joists.

Measure the width and length of the existing joist. Even if your joists already have a row of bridging at the center of the span adding a row on each side of the existing bridging will stiffen the floor. The extra two inches of vertical distance when a floor is framed with 2 x 10 joists rather than 2 x 12s can be quite important for example. In the case of 2x6 joists you can pair them up with additional 2x6 joists by nailing them together side by side.

If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists. Purchase the type of lumber that matches the width of the existing joist. Then refurnish the boards and add new boards to the affected part. They put chemicals in the affected board to kill the dry rot.

Building codes specify the minimum joist depth and spacing typically 12 or 16 inches on center for spans up to 20 feet but those requirements are intended to prevent plaster ceilings from cracking not to. To add a finishing touch paint the new boards if they don t match the other joists. The concept as explained used strips of metal about 1 1 2 wide about 1 8 thick and the length of each joist fastened to the bottom of each joist. Tack a beam under the sagging joists.

Notches will compromise the strength of the new joists but some notches are acceptable depending on their location. I read it doesn t need cross ventilation. This solution doesn t make the floor as stiff as the other solutions but since it s relatively easy and inexpensive you might want to try it first. The best way to limit annoying flex in a floor is to make sure that joists are sized correctly before a house or addition is built.

Most new construction uses 2 by 8 lumber for joists although 2 by 6. Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist. Nailing two 2x4s together will work to span about three joists unless the sag is under a weight bearing wall. A neat trick contractors do when dealing with dry rot is add another level to the floor joists.

Common sense tells you that large floor joists can carry more load and spacing joists closer together also increases the load bearing capacity of a floor. So i ve got 2 6 floor joists spanning 15 feet. It s kind of old school. After a lot of on line research i started seeing the same solution over and over adding to the bottoms of floor joists instead of sistering.