Doing some dry rot repair on a commercial building, was unable to post a picture, but the builder used an ijoist instead of rim joist material. In addition they cut a bunch of vent holes, 4×14, so what little OSB there is is now gone.
Is this legitimate? It is a one story building, and the wall assembly has not collapsed. There are even hold downs, one at each corner, applying downward pressure on this completely thrashed ijoist.
Replies
If you mean a conventional setup where there is a wall sitting on the rim joist, the answer is no. Might be alright if there were squash blocks on the ends of the joists. The reason rim board is used with I joists is that it is designed to carry a load without crushing. This is all just a guess though without pictures.
We used to see the instructions that come with some brand tell us to use the Ijoists as the band. I know it doesn't now.
As far as holes, the instruction booklet that comes with the I joists all tell you where and how big you can cut a hole.
Edited 7/9/2009 8:00 am ET by frammer52
What frammer52 said.
Does not sound good from your description.
Jim
The I-joist manufacturer would provide the final answer, but -
I've run into similar situations a couple of times. The manufacturer we used said that their I-joists could be used as a band board as long as the load did not exceed 1,000 PLF.
The vent holes would make some difference. And it would also mattter if the wall had roof load from above. And point loads (like from girder trusses) would have to be dealt with.
Seems you have a bug on your back with this one.
I have never used them as I never believed in them.I have seen many installed and have read the install guides. The people inslalling were hit and miss at best. Some tried to keep the openings at spec but the next bullet head would just get out the recip and hack away. Very little blocking as required.Bet there was a bunch of water getting at it also.
Call the manufacuter and see if any warrenty exists/ liabilty for the builder and inspector.
I am replacing the bottom section of siding due to water damage. There is damage to the bottom chord of the ijoist at the vents.I am just kinda surprised at seeing this. 1/2" OSB on edge, all hacked up, carrying most of the wall assembly load. I discussed it with the owner. Since it is holding up, we decided to button it up.