Replies

1. 
   Sphere | Feb 14, 2005 08:09pm | #1

   Yikes!!!!

   Get thee an Eng. or a competent home inspector..soon.

    

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Restoring, Remodeling, Reclaiming The Quality..

2. 
   AXE | Feb 14, 2005 08:22pm | #2

   I'm curious why your home inspector @purchase time didn't catch this.  Might want to start writing stuff down as you may have a claim.

   But the problem.  It would help if you could make a sketch of the situation or take some pictures.  As I understand it, you have a piece of steel in the center which is cantilevered over the foundation and then floor joists hung off that.  That also would imply that both of your rim joists (front and back of house) are cantilevered and carrying a lot of load.  But where is the sag?  in the center or is the whole side sagging relative to the level of the rest of the house?

   I wouldn't get too worried about it as I'm sure it can be fixed relatively easily.  Well it can be stabilized easily, but if you start jacking it back to level, you may have some interior issues that will need to be fixed up (cracked drywall, trim joints open, doors don't close, etc.).  You've got the right idea to close it up and in the process add some footings.  Just depends if you want to jack it or stabilize it as is.

   MERC.

1. 
   FRChad | Feb 14, 2005 10:58pm | #3

   Merc,

     I should probably also say that this house was built in 77, not a new construction.  But yes you have the right idea that the cantilevered section is basically supposrted by the I beam and the two end joists..very very odd to say the least.  It wasnt caught at the home inspection because this whole area was covered, it want until we had to have some nice honeybees removed that this section was opened and suprise!  We knew the floor had a sag, but we thought that it was just the joists sagging and that this would be fairly easy to remedy...but now Im thinking its a bit more involved... We obviously want to support this whole section, hence the build in ..

1. 
   MikeSmith | Feb 15, 2005 03:19am | #4

   i've worked on some pretty stupid things built in the '70's..

   you need professional advice

   either  a knowledgeable builder with experience... or a  Structural  PE.Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

3. 
   FrankB89 | Feb 15, 2005 04:43am | #5

   I ran into a similar thing about 12 years ago on an owner built house, early 70's vintage.  In  my situation, cantilevered 2x10 floor joists were set on 12' centers, with little 4' joists filling in between, fastened with joist hangers to the interior rim and end nailed from the cantilevered rim.

   The only thing holding up the whole overhanging structure was the sparse cantilevers working with an outer rim joist and the shear strength of the endwalls. 

   The whole thing was sagging about 1 1/2" in 4'....and more where the rim was developing quite a belly between the true cantilevers.

   The solution (the new HO had as limited budget), was to jack everything back to level, pour  concrete pads and essentially, support the cantilever with an exposed post and beam structure.

   In this situation, it was fine, because the first floor was a garage and shop area and the HO utilized the post and beam structure to support trellises for her roses and stuff.  But the end appearance may not work for you.

   But, if this is viable for you, as someone mentioned, jacking it back into place can be a tedious and, potentially dangerous, process.

   Above the cantilever on my job were 7-0/5-0 picture windows, which I crossed-taped heavily with duct tape and constantly lived in fear of hearing a pop and having a big shard of glass give DW the opportunity to cash in my death benefit.

   To fix it otherwise is probably going to involve some engineering and some radical surgery.

   And, hopefully, Bob Walker can put on hold whatever political rant he is currently on, absent himself from the tavern for a few minutes and offer some sage advice from a home inspector's perspective and suggest possible recourses, if any, that are available to you.

    

   
   

   ---

   Edited 2/14/2005 8:47 pm ET by Notchman

4. 
   Piffin | Feb 15, 2005 06:18am | #6

   for starters - nah skip the starteers, you already know somebody screwed up and forgot to put in corner posts.
   or some idiot took them out since then.

   So begin by getting some jack posts under the two corners and hosting away.
   Immediately.

   Then call in an engineer to help you figure out a good course of action.
   or a darn good frame guy.

    

    

   Welcome to the
   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
    where ...
   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   FRChad | Feb 15, 2005 02:42pm | #7

   Thanks to everyone for the response! I really appreciate it.  Getting some jck posts under there is definately my first priority.  My really big fear is that once we start to lift, that whole section is going to break away from the house.  I havent really gotten a good look in there to see how it is attatched to the house...It took a while for the "what the *&#%!" factor to go away.  Ill have to take a better look tonight and see what I can figure out...When we first looked at the house it really struck me as odd that there were no corner supports with the way it cantilevered out, but I thought no biggie, thats an easy enough addition...Obviously i didnt expect the "creative" construction techniques that were used...

1. 
   DanH | Feb 16, 2005 06:21am | #8

   I wouldn't worry too much about it separating. Wood framing will take a remarkable amount of strain before it starts coming apart. Just go slow, over several days.

5. 
   alixas | Sep 12, 2016 03:34pm | #9

   help, same problem

   Hello,

   Can you please tell me what you ended up doing? I'm facing a similar problem now. Should I bring in an engineer??

   Ameer