Poor planning on my part has led to a problem I was trying to avoid. Second floor bathroom, floor framed with 11-7/8″ deep TJI I-joists. We are trying to install a one-piece acrylic shower unit and ran into a problem – the drain for the shower is right over the top of (but not quite centered on) one of the joists. I can’t move the shower unit in any direction because of the layout of the rest of the room. We bought the unit after everything was already framed, so I can’t move the joist.
Can someone offer a solution on “headering” a TJI? The only load is the shower and the weight of a person in it – the joists span 12′, are 16″ o.c., and the subfloor is Advantech 3/4″, glue and ring-shanks. I only need a 5″ square hole and half of it is over the joist.
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Contact the place you git the I-joists from. They'll come up with a solution, and most likely won't charge anything for doing it.
This kind of stuff happens all the time.
Happens all the time. If you've got access, you'll probably be able to fix it without too much stress. Often times the lumberyard engineer calls me back and the solution doesn't even require doubling up the joists on either side of the header(s). Of course it all depends on the span, loading, and joists used, but it's certainly not the end of the world. First thing Monday morning, give a call to whoever designed the floor system for you.
First thing Monday morning, give a call to whoever designed the floor system for you.
That would be........me.
I'll call the lumberyard, maybe they can point me to somebody at the manufacturer that can help.
LOL.... "who's the idiot who designed this?" Been there. Hey, do you have one of the pamphlets that usually come in a Tyvek envelope with the I-joist package? Those do a pretty good job of explaining some of the more common issues and solutions that come up with I-joists. If not, you lumberyard really should be able to help you out.
Good luck dude.View Image
Based on your description of the hole, if you were to sister another TJI against the problem one, you wouldn't have to touch the sister.
Usually a shower is near the outside wall of the house. You probably can manage to work the sister onto the outside sill, so that end is well-supported. Then the other end can run out as far as possible/reasonable in the other direction and fastened somehow to the existing member.
I've seen my plumbers do some creative stuff with various fittings to get around a poorly placed joist below a tub drain; just something to think about...