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Bathroom renovation – Subfloor installation technique

loya1ty | Posted in General Discussion on May 9, 2024 12:47pm

Knees deep in a bathroom reno, or as my wife first asked for – a recaulking job of the shower. I’ve got the entire subfloor cutout and am looking at my joists (I’m on the 2nd level, btw). 70’s construction so I’ve got 1.5×9″ joists. Figure I’d need to rip 2x10s to sister the joists for more rigid subfloor assembly. But the trick here is the one exterior wall is raised a solid 1-1.5inches above the next 2 feet of the room… same for the 1st level as well. Settling of the home I assume. Could I just get a 2×10 (9.25 true) and sister with the new joist raised to help level the floor? What would be the recommended integration along the 2 exterior walls, the one in particular that doesn’t have immediate support underneath as its on the band joist? I’ve removed the remaining wall to the left and subfloor in the photo, as well as the drain and supply lines that are getting re-routed. New wall is going along the cutline, and I’ll put horizontal blocking under the flooring there to ensure proper support for the door framing. Oh, there is also a 1.5ft cantilever on the window wall over the first floor wall, but i don’t think that will impact what I’m trying to do here within the 8×10 room footprint.

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Replies

  1. User avater
    ct_yankee | May 09, 2024 10:32pm | #1

    If you provided pics, they didn't stick with your post. Try again.

    1. loya1ty | May 10, 2024 08:40am | #2

      Hm, yeah i see that it shows up on my desktop, but not laptop or phone. Odd. I've added a pic as an attachment. Thanks! Not the greatest pic but should give an idea of the working space. The slope in question is from right to left over the first couple of joists, leveling out more towards the left side of the room.

      1. calvin | May 10, 2024 02:25pm | #5

        Ok, we’ve got one picture showing up.
        Can you rid the mess and take a couple more pictures showing the higher floor you mention and also any other details you have a question on?

        If sistering becomes a hassle due to plumbing runs etc, I’d be tempted to add to the top of joists to bring up to level and flat. That is if the joists are strong enough for your load.
        Thanks.

        1. loya1ty | Jun 18, 2024 10:20am | #8

          sorry been occupied on some other projects, but picking back up on it now. I'll load a few more pics later today. Essentially if I lay my 4 foot level across the joist openings with the left side sitting on the subfloor and the right side still on the strip on plywood along the bottom plate, it'll be out of level. Drop the right side down off of the 1/2" subfloor, and it's pretty close to level lol

  2. calvin | May 10, 2024 09:11am | #3

    Did you try to go down below the “Leave a comment” box and load an attachment?

  3. User avater
    ct_yankee | May 10, 2024 10:26am | #4

    Sorry, but I still do not understand what your issue is.

  4. User avater
    unclemike42 | May 11, 2024 06:39am | #6

    If you plan to sister to a joist to make up the gap under level subfloor, the sister does not have to be as tall as the load-carrying joist. You can use a 2x4 or 2x6 for the sister, depending on the amount of lift you need from the joist.

    1. loya1ty | Jun 18, 2024 10:15am | #7

      Thanks, this is what I recently have been looking into as well. I guess its also called 'laminating' the joist, as its not a true sister due to using smaller dimension. I'll probably put 2x6s on every joist, progressively lifting it higher as I go left from the right exterior wall. This will allow me to secure the new subfloor properly with blocking under that bottom plate. I considered using 1/2" and running it on the existing joists as that would tuck underneath the current subfloor still attached to the bottom plate lol I may have exaggerated the 1-1.5 inch drop, but it's definitely .5" as I test fitted a piece of plywood. This method however would require self leveler still, as well as some tricky blocking under the bottom plate to fasten the new subfloor properly. Looks like I'm essentially rebuilding the floor assembly to get a nice level and strong surface.

  5. jameswbush | Jun 19, 2024 02:41pm | #10

    Using a 2x10 to sister the joists and raise where needed sounds like a good plan for leveling along the exterior walls. Don't forget to add blocking for support under the new wall and door framing.

  6. calvin | Jun 19, 2024 10:44am | #9

    C’mon man, Dubai?

    I guess it’s possible to get some sucker to click on your spam link.

    You must be damn desperate to do what you did. Many moons ago we actually had some international members/posters. They came to help, not spam.

  7. loya1ty | Jun 24, 2024 10:45am | #11

    haha yeah, i don't come to the fine home building forum to get solicitated by some random consulting company. Thanks for your advice.

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