I’ve racked my head for countless nights and can see no way except to cut holes in my floor rafters.. 3 Rafters in a row. One for the furnace duct of 5 inches and one for the waste drain of 3 3/4 inches..
I will reinforce it, heck I’ll use solid wood if I have to! I was thinking about reinforcing it with 3/4 inch plywood glued and screwed on either side of the beam. (actaul 8 inch X 2 inch.. they are only 12 inches on center and they are actual rather than demensional plus they are hardwood!
The gut wrenching point is that I will wind up with only 3 inches of wood where the hole is largest..
Now this isn’t in an area that will be heavily loaded and I can move it to any point in the span if there is an advantage.
This is up on the third floor in a guest bedroom area.
Replies
Frenchy, this might sound crazy, but is there any way you can route these ducts above the floor and make a step over them, or maybe place a cabinet or bed over them to hide them ? It's a guest bedroom, push 'em in the corner and use 'em as a shoe stand or something-- window seat. either that or if possible use some of those steel or concrete joist reinforcers. google it.
John
Kpatrix,
Already did that where possible. If they don't go thru the joists they go right into the middle of the bedroom.
try googling Matrix Engineered.
they make a product called Reweb.
it might be what you're looking for.
Is there anyway to header off the area where they would run through the floor joists?
Stilletto,
No, sad to say I've spent countless nights trying to find an elegant solution. I only need to go 32 inches, but that's across three joists.
Well I suppose I could figure out a way to bore thru a solid ash beam. (12 inches wide) if I went the other way.. But the biggest drill bit I have is only 4 5/8ths
How about a bulkhead in the room underneath the joists?
I was going say " go ahead, cut away, its only your house" but then.... why dont you use some of those jet ducts, thay are like 4 inch round pipe. OK go ahead, say they wont work, but you need to at least refrence them, They are the hot ticket now because they will fit in walls instead of heated attic space.
Brownbagg,
The solution which someone here helped me think of was to take a 4 5/8ths self feeding auger and drill a hole thru a 10 x 12 ash beam.. the spot I drill thru is over a load bearing wall so it will just wind up being the fun of drilling thru 12 inches of ash a hole 4 5/8ths. Once thru that beam the joists run the right way and it will be a piece of cake.. (actually one 4 5/8ths hole and one 3 3/4 )
Yo Browny
Those systems are called "high velocity" and are a completely different furnace and ductwork I believe. I had to run some extra takeoff's from one so I didn't actually "see" the furnace part off it but the main ductwork was different and of course attaching the new run was also different.
I think they are great idea for some applications though I have heard they could be noisy due to the high velocity of air coming out.
I think the easiest answer to frenchies question is either one baseboard heater though it could be tough running an extra wire up to the third floor OR just by a good quality 120 volt plug in heater. Maybe there are some 120 volt heaters that you hard wire direct and permanently fasten it to the wall.
Sometimes the isn't any safe way(or cost effective) of running ductwork where you want it to go.
roger
Stilletto,
Sorry but my wife would object to a bulkhead in the bed.. (which is the area this whole mess is over).
My solution I came up with thanks to someone here is to drill thru a 10x12 ash beam with a 4 5/8ths self feeding auger. Since that beam is over a load bearing wall it's just a hole.. or a couple of holes. and once I get thru that beam the joists run the way I need..
I can't believe I overlooked this option.
You could replace those joists with bar joists.
George Patterson
frenchy,
I would weld up some 3/8" steel plate in 2"x8" L's. Run about 2' past holes. Cut your holes in the joist and mark steel to cut and drill for bolts. Relieve the tops and bottoms of the joist. Bolt these over with lots of bolts. Add some 2x4 ledgers to catch your decking.
Been there done that.
KK