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A buddy of mine is a production Builder (200+ homes /yr.) He’s asked me to lend a hand on some of his customer service and wanting a little change I took him on his offer. Anyway, I’ve been into several houses that have some pretty bad floor joists. My question is; What would you consider an excessive crown in a 2″ x 10″ joist twelve to fourteen feet in length?
I’ll get to the fix part later.
Thanks to all for any input.
PLP
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I suppose to some degree it depends on what finish flooring is. And also, is the crown part of a run of joist that were similar, and all crown up?
1/4" in a hem fir 2x that size is on the high side of average around here.
*Thanks Nathan !Where's around here? I'm in Maryland.
*1/4" crown I would consider to be straight. 3/4" would be high. We usually quickly evaluate a pile of joists and if many of the joists have crowns of 1/2-3/4, we put these together so that the floor has a consistent hump. Usually the 2x10's and 12's we get are pretty good. We often have to rip off the top edge of treated lumber to revive the culls we get stuck with.
*TJIs. I only wish they made 8".
*Jim,Thanks for looking in.I've made the suggestion. The head of production says they cost to much. I replied; How many $ 2,500.00 vinyl floors does it take to offset this. I know of at least four that have had to be replaced in the past two weeks, not to mention my time at 30+ an hour.He's doing another study!PLP
*Use TJ's in vinyl areas, 2x in carpeted areas. 1/4 to 1/2 crown is acceptable, but neighboring joists must have the same amount to avoid that "wavy" look.
*You have to take into account the labor savings of going engineered. A crew experienced w/ eng. joists will have a smaller labor charge. I say it's pay me now or pay me later. The technology is here, why not use it. Please, someone tell me if I'm wrong?
*Dustin,I agree whole heartedly!Thanks for the input!PLP
*i What would you consider an excessive crown in a 2" x 10" joist twelve to fourteen feet in length? Anything >1/360 the span. Of course, at that production rate you can expect the tolerances to be ballparkish.Incidently, at 200+ homes/year this is the kind of stuff you see. A guy like that will provide all the pick up work you'll ever want. You really have to like punchlists and sometimes nasty homeowners.
*3/8" is on the high side of tolerable for me at 14'I agree on the engineered floor systems - TJI or open web truss. Nothing else makes sense unless it's a shack. The engineered is cheaper counting labor.
*I'm a framer and I run into bad joists all the time. Excessive crowns and twists and an occasional crack lengthwise. It just takes a little time and common sense to use them up without causing problems. All big crowns (3/8" will fly, 1/2" bye bye) get cut up into blocking or small headers. Sometimes I make a cut in the 2x10 about 1/2 or 2/3 through and use it for a band joist or "box" as we call it. If I have a lot of bad joists they get shipped back to the yard and exchanged for good. You ever get 12 footers that are @ 9 1/2" and 14 footers that are 9 1/4" or vice versa?
*More like 9 1/4" and 9".
*A 4' level laid across the joists should sit within 1/16" of all 4 joists (16" centers) everywhere.
*I guess we all do it different. All crown lumber up to a half inch will fly. The staightest stuff goes in the kitchen and dinning room first, or they are ripped straight out of the worst. Depends on what the lumber grades out to be. Twisted lumber goes byby. Those are the ones that give grief. Put a joint of anything on one of those and look at it.
*Thanks to all for the input! I've seen the joist sizes start at 8 7/8" and go up to 9 5/8". I've started the fix process and I have a variety of floor finishes and locations, from carpet to vinyl, 1st floor to 2nd floor. Fortunately, the basement is unfinished. How about some ideas on the fix?Thanks again!PLP