tomorrow im going into an old house to straighten out the ceiling. the whole house is full of dips and sags, as its just over 100 years old. anyhow, the homeowners dont really want to correct the problem. they just want it to look better. a few weeks back we did the floor in the same room. all we did was sister the old joists, making it straight. there was no way we could get it level without getting into a whole lot more of a project. anyhow, ill get to the point now. tomorrow is the ceiling. im planning on doing the same thing, and sister the old joists. problem is, im fairly certain ill be alone. i was thinking that i would build some temp walls on each end of the room to hold the ends of the new joists, so that i can get them up, and keep them straight, by myself. think thats a good method?
in the lowest part of the sag, the joists hang down about 5 inches. i figured i would make the temp walls 6 inches below the end of the lowest joist. the homeowners arent concearned w/ ceiling hieght, they just want it straight. im thinking ill use 2x10s. think this is a good game plan? thoughts? tips? …. thanks
Replies
If your sag was not so great I used steel studs to do the same thing. You just screw them to the side of the joist and hang your rock from them.
How big is the room?
blue
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
i believe its 13' 8". maybe not exact. either way... just under 14'
Just haul a bunch of 2x4 in there. Run one around the rim and use bent nails to hold up the dead man's end. Resupport the centers by shooting a center block in some way into the existing joists. I'd poke a hole and get a few nails into some hanger blocks. If you can't count on the ceiling to help hold up any weight, I'd just use 2x6's and use the bent nail trick to act as my dead man (helper). I've also used a simple notched 2x4 to temporarily hold one end.
blue
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
blue, I have a flat top holder-upper like that for rock, just kick 'er in place
Unclear -- are you going to sister the joists to raise the ceiling back up flat, or are you simply installing glorified furring strips?
the furring strips ... big ones
That all sounds like too much of a PITA. I had some warped ceiling joists in my bedroom and made a big T that I set into the cup on my floor jack, which I rested on top of some boards to distribute the weight. Made good contact with the T from underneath and had a buddy go upstairs to cut the joists. You're probably going to be doing some plaster repair anyway, so if you screw the T into the joist overhead, it won't fall. Once the first cuts are made, nail the new joists at one end, jack it up so it's flatter and start nailing. We did it at 1/3
and 2/3 of the room length, nailing it to that point from the closer end as we went. Then we went through the whole room and screwed the rocklath/plaster to the joists because it had sagged away and had gaps. We started at 10AM and by 2:30 PM, we had it sistered, used string to set up our shims for the new drywall, taped, new corner bead and 2 coats of mud. It started out as the worst ceiling in the house and when it was done, it's the best one. It really looked like crap when we started. It turned out so well I didn't even texture it.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
acording to my wife , I have a 5" sag in my belly
I think she has a 5" sag in her balloons
just kidding
but when I read your post, after a day like today, the last hting I want to do is work on a house wher a homeonwer doesnt want it fixed right, they just want it fixed cheap
it will backfire, yull do it cheap and it will look good for a year or two and then the phone rings and they say
I know we paid you 50cents for a 1 dollar job, but we want it to last like a 10 dollar job, come fix it or we will see you in court
unfortunately, this part Im not kidding
Five inches is a drop...not a sag.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"