Cut Joist (Wooden "I" Beam) Repair

Hello

I was redoing my kitchen the right way by getting plumbing&electrical permits. In the process i had to remove the builder installed (20yrs old town home) fire-place and it exposed the fireplace exhaust that was installed by cutting a floor joist.

Please see the document with pictures and notes - AND a 2 min video

Questions: -

- Can a header be installed only on one side of the cut joist ?
(see the diagram"B" in the document link)

- Less important question - will this impact my home insurance till it is fixed ?

Hey welcome to the site. To answer your question. No. The idea is to have two joists carry the load of the cut one in the middle. My speaker are not working so if there was sound with your video I didn't get it, but it looked like you intend to close the hole in the wall that was the fire place. If there is only floor being held up with this joist, you could just build another wall under this joist. A quick call to the inspector to confirm.

nealtw said:

Hey welcome to the site. To answer your question. No. The idea is to have two joists carry the load of the cut one in the middle. My speaker are not working so if there was sound with your video I didn't get it, but it looked like you intend to close the hole in the wall that was the fire place. If there is only floor being held up with this joist, you could just build another wall under this joist. A quick call to the inspector to confirm.

Click to expand...

The voice on the video is same as the notes in the PDF file.

The cut joist is already sitting on top of the wall. I do not plan to use the extra space creating by removing the fireplace. I plan to cover the fireplace hole wall...this is the same wall that's under the cut joist.

I was looking at http://www.internationalbeams.com/ and it seems its done with code.

The joist was cut during the building of the townhouse 20 yrs ago and I am guessing the Inspector had passed it - who knows.

The guy at the Home center suggested that I can use a steel nailing strip to make the joist continuous. - would this work ?.. should I give it a try and call the inspector.

There dosn't appear to be enough of the joist on top of the wall. A nailing strip will not add support that is needed. What ever you plan to do, asking the inspector first is the answer. Unless you do what he suggested.

nealtw said:

There dosn't appear to be enough of the joist on top of the wall. A nailing strip will not add support that is needed. What ever you plan to do, asking the inspector first is the answer. Unless you do what he suggested.

Click to expand...

Thanks again. Could you please check the attached design someone has recommended and let me know what you think. As per the design i can support the Cut parts of the joist on the wall below and connect the header only on the non-hvac duct side (right side of the photos) of the I-Joist.

Here are comments from a gentleman who gave me a design-

"The right side is OK, since it sits on a vertical wall. The left side needs a "bridge" to help support that flapping end. You may (since I can't see from the pix) have to cut back even a little more on the I-joist in order to install a 2x12 (or whatever size fits) on the end of it and have space to work. I would extend the 2x12 over the wall, attach it to the end of the I-joist and bridge to the adjacent joist, fastening it there with a T notch so the 2x12 not only fits the top and bottom chord, but sits inside to fit the webbing, where you can screw it in solidly and it will rest on the bottom chord.
Forgive my rudimentary drawing."


In your experience does the county inspector ask for official document from a Structural Engineer (certified P.E.) before passing this fix suggested here ?

for the web stiffener install i will have the open the wall and roof on the side of the duct(kitchen side) and i will take some more pictures and draw and ortho diagram for your comments.

This picture shows what your inspector is expecting to see, the hangers will want to be special hangers designed to work with your joists. He may accept less depending on the load above and he may not like supporting it on the wall under it if they are not barring walls. Draw a couple pictures of what you would like to do and go talk to him.

I'd take a chance on the far easier web "sistering" with dimensional lumber. A lot less work, and if your AHJ buys it, you're home free. A P.E.'s stamp may or may not be required, also dependent on the AHJ. And if you go that route, don't forget to use seasoned lumber as I told you on the other site.