Need help blocking these joists…obviously the air ducts are going to cause an issue. How to work around this?
Floor needs to be braced for this add-on sun room (9×7 ft). Hardwoods are going down on this entire level, and the joists here run in the opposite direction as the rest of the house. Would like to block joists in order to run hardwoods in this room the same way as the rest of the house.
How tough a job are we talking?
Replies
If it's just for the flooring...
If it's just going to be used to attach the flooring, why not use 2x4 blocking flat against the floor sheathing? That should provide sufficient thickness for the flooring nails or staples and still be able to get the ductwork through...
Is there something else I am missing?
It looks like the whole job is already botched. Insulation is a mess too. I'd pull down the insulation and ducts and start over. I don't think blocking is necessary if there is sheathing on the bottom anyway, as it should be on this room.
Depending on....
...how this floor will meet the existing, the easist option will probably be to add a layer of 1/2 in. CDX over the subfloor and not worry about blocking. And yeah, the insulation looks pretty rough.
To stiffen the floor you don't need to block EVERY bay. You could skip blocking in the bays with ducts and still have a reasonably stiff floor. And with a little fudging you could almost manage X bracing in the bays with ducts.