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I have a new home and am experiencing too much spring in the floors.The construction is 16″ o/c 2×10’s with the maximum span being 16ft. I do have access to the floor thru the basement. Some of the floors are carpeted and some are covered with 3/4″ oak flooring and seems to be slightly better. Any ideas???
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With 2 x 10 spf #2 you really shouldn't span over 15' with a 40# live load & a 10# dead load, this probably is causing the spring in the floor. You could sister another 2 x 10 by gluing and nailing them along side the joist that are already in place, this would help significantly.
*Another suggestion would be to install a run of bridging through the center of the span. Cut 2x10 blocks to fit in between each joist, then glue and nail them. This kind of sucks if there are lots of wires, ducts, plumbing pipes in the way though.
*Jim and Mark are right just one more suggestion after you bridge throughout consider strapping the underside of the 2x10 with 1x3 16" or 24" c/c, if you do all that I'm sure you loose most of the bounce
*Vance, Personally I don't like to span more than 13 ft with 2x10's. If you have access to the bottoms of most of your joist and don't plan on finishing the basement ceiling, There was a neat solution in either FHB or JLC a few years back. Take some 2x4's and put them flat-wise on the bottom of your joists. using 3" or 3-1/2" screws, put 2 or 3 screws in either end and leave the middle unattached. Then pry the middle down enough to get a short block of 2x4 in-between. Now go back out to the ends and put a screw every 6" to 8" to pull the 2x4 up tight to the2x10. Work in from both ends evenly until you cant close the gap any further. This will give sort of a makeshift, prestressed, inverted "T" beam. In the places you don't have access to the full length of the joist try solid blocking and or sistering.This solution appeals to me because you get to work underneath instead of between which is never very much fun. I hope this will be of some help. Tony Ferrito
*Vance,I had the same problem with my last house where the span was about 15' 4" over one area. I figured I had to do something before installing a dropped ceiling (which would also add to the problem because the ceiling tiles were vinyl clad sheetrock, relatively heavy).I saved full length rips (8') of 1/2" sheathing (plywood and OSB)from a few jobs and ripped them all to 9".Then I glued and screwed them to both sides of each joist staggering the joints. One side had the full length rip at mid span, on the other side of the same joist had the full length rip at one end.The sheathing was easy to cut and fit around any obstruction (pipes, wires...)After that was complete I screwed a continous 2 x 6 on the flat to the bottom of the joists at mid span.It worked pretty well, and not counting labor (that's what kids are for) it only cost me some glue a box of screws and two 2 x 6's.I would reccomend against solid blocking. From my experience, they contribute more to squeaking than to stability.Good luck,Rick Arnold
*Double every other joist.blue
*Add a mid-span beam.blue
*Blue has the two best options here. The midspan support being the best option.
*Thanks for all the ideas. can't put a center support because of two reasons. First at some point it will be my winter project to finish the basement and this area will be the main recroom area. Secondly, the joist will have to be 44 ft.long.What if I sister every third joist and put two bridges between all the others,and use glue and screws to join them all.I didn't even consider that this may add squeaks to the floor. The builder will supply the material and I the sweat!What do you guys(and girls)think of my idea? Will it work or be a waste of effort.
*Sister every other. And don't bother with the noisy bridging. If you need to sister every one, then do it. Vance, keep in mind that a mid-span beam does not have to be in the center. You could effectively stiffen a floor system by placing a midspan beam that would still give you a clear span of 14 or 15 feet.The species of the joist is critical in determining maximum span. blue
*Ok.... if I read your last post correctly, then the area where you are experiencing the problem is 44'wide.?.? If that's the case then don't bother with my bridging suggestion, it would lose most of it's helpfulness in a run of that length. Also your question about sistering some of the joists and bridging others, don't bother, bridging needs to be in a continuous run to have any effectiveness. I am now jumping on the sister every other joist bandwagon. I also like the screwing 2x4 s to the bottoms idea. You'd be surprised how much that does to stiffen up a floor. As a side note though let me ask why some of you are so down on bridging? I have never had any negative experiences with properly installed bridging as far as squeaking. Unless you are talking about that worthless ol' x-bracing stuff.
*Did you say the builder? If he is still involved in this project that he built, he should take care of this for free. No one in his right mind would span that far with a 2x10. Double them all and glue em. screw em.
*Vance,After reading your post a second time, and readinng that your builder is going to supply the material I would think that you should check with your local building insp. and find out what the allowable span is for 2x10 @16" cent. in your area, he/she will need to know how many floors in the home etc., but I would agree with Ron Rosa that any work that has to be done be done at no charge by the builder. A span of 16' for a 2"x10" is asking that piece of lumber to do an awful lot work. Take a minute to find out and make the right repair don't jusk react with a stop-gap measure it might come back to bite you years later. good luck
*I just placed a call to the building inspector and waiting the call back. After taking some measurments, the length of the joists is 15ft 3" and the length of the steel I beam is 44ft. But like I said I would like to keep this area open.
*Up here, anything over 8 feet is supposed to be blocked or bridged. If there's no bridging or blocking, add blocking (you won't be able to install bridging. If the floor is not blocked, a moving point load (like a person's feet) is not distributed over several load-bearing members (i.e. joists). If it is already blocked then use a beam underneath. I don't know how well doubling every other joist would work, but it sure isn't easy to install. And if you have plumbing/electrical in there, forget it.
*Marko,Around here everything needs bridging 10' O.C.Billy
*Here's a related issue. First, some background.I have a new two story home. My architect spanned a 22 foot room with a steel -beam. The building kept. said it was not the correct size (I don't know what size it was) but the architect said a structural engineer had designed it and stamped the drawings. He is a very reputable architect. The framers attached the beam to another I beam on one end and sat the other end on top of one half of a 3 inch steel pole. A micro-lam bust to the I beam and sits on the other half of the steel pole.The second story room (over the beam)has 2x12 floor joists 20 feet long which run from the band and are attached to the I beam with joist hangers. The floor of the second story room has a floor of 5/8" tongue and groove sheets of wood (5' x8'). Its not plywood but is similar. It is supposed to be guaranteed against warping and splitting from water, etc. Now the problem:When I walk on the half of the second story room nearest the pole/-beam/micro-lam, the floors snaps. It dosen't thump like a typical loose piece of plywood. It actual sounds like wood/metalic snapping. The floor does not bounce. Moreover, the other half of the room does not do this?Does anyone have a theory?
*First, some background. I have a new two story home. My architect spanned a 22 foot room with a steel -beam. The building kept. said it was not the correct size (I don't know what size it was) but the architect said a structural engineer had designed it and stamped the drawings. He is a very reputable architect. The framers attached the beam to another I beam on one end and sat the other end on top of one half of a 3 inch steel pole. A micro-lam bust to the I beam and sits on the other half of the steel pole. The second story room (over the beam)has 2x12 floor joists 20 feet long which run from the band and are attached to the I beam with joist hangers. The floor of the second story room has a floor of 5/8" tongue and groove sheets of wood (5' x8'). Its not plywood but is similar. It is supposed to be guaranteed against warping and splitting from water, etc. Now the problem: When I walk on the half of the second story room nearest the pole/-beam/micro-lam, the floors snaps. It dosen't thump like a typical loose piece of plywood. It actual sounds like wood/metalic snapping. The floor does not bounce. Moreover, the other half of the room does not do this? Does anyone have a theory?
*Mike, is it the hangers making the noise?blue
*Vance...I would glue and screw 2x4 on the flat to the bottom of your 2x10s. This would be the easiest...the fastest...the least expensive...and the strogest solution least flexing solution. Look at an I joist and an I joist table to see why.near the stream,aj
*I can't be sure although I don't think so because it make noise all over not just near the hangers.
*I am trying to figure out the rating of a beam that is made with old hemlock rough cutt and newD. firir framing lumber. We are installing a loft in a barn that has been converted into a house and we need to span 18'. To fit in with the rest of the building we are going to use a solid 8"I I 8" old hemlock beam. That sits on 3/4" steeI I brackets. Then we are going to top it with a beam made with two D. fir 2&quoI;I 10&quo--willl likely sandwich with 3/4" plywood. The new wood would sit on top of the old wood and be fastened together with nails and straps as needed to form a bastardized "I" beam. The floor it self will be made from regular 2"X10"X10' floor joists which will sit on the exposed top edge of the old 8X8 and will be toe nailed into the new 2X10 beam. On the other end the joists will be hung from a rim joist. Based on other beams in the barn this will be strong enough but do you think it will have too much bounce?We will sheath floor with 3/4II&II and use solid bridging.Whaddaya think?
*15' 3" isn't all that bad for SYP 2X10s, although it's about at the limit. How far apart are the posts under the steel beam, and what size is the beam ? A beam that's undersized or overspanned can contribute to vibration.
*3/4" plywood subfloors distribute loads to adjacent joists, if joists are 16" o.c. With old spruce diagonal subfloors the bridging actually did something. Strapping the bottom of the joists keeps them from rolling if they're deep joists.Mike
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I have a new home and am experiencing too much spring in the floors.The construction is 16" o/c 2x10's with the maximum span being 16ft. I do have access to the floor thru the basement. Some of the floors are carpeted and some are covered with 3/4" oak flooring and seems to be slightly better. Any ideas???