New beam – with uneven joists above
I tried searching but didnt manage to locate something similar to this – although there are many many posts to weed through.
Im tearing out a load bearing wall – and replacing with an 11 ft beam. Over the span of that beam, the joists above are uneven – or sagging, compared to joists on the edge. I placed one of the 9.5″ lvl’s into place, and about 4 of the joists rest on the beam, and another 3 have gaps or spaces above the beam. The largest gap is about 1″, and this is the joist closest to one end, which happens to be over the foundation. So the joists that are resting on the beam, are about in the middle of the house. My house was built in 1917, so im sure it’s sagging a bit towards the middle of the house. The beam is currently level, but obviously not supporting a few of the joists (I still have temp support wall in place).
My question is- and Ill be having an inspection on this – do I simply put shims/plywood in to fill the gaps to meet code, or does the beam need to be jacked up to level the floor above? (second story / bedrooms above).
Thanks for any input!
Replies
Is the floor above out of level?
That will determine the next move.
If it isn't level, and it parallels the joist, you probably want to jack it up.
So this load bearing wall that was under your joists mush not have been at all level... is your first floor sagging?
Also, any walls near where this beam is going in? May risk cracks in plaster if you jack up a floor under a wall.
Can we presume the beam is level? My take is you would want to jack up the sagging joists to get them level with the higher joists and then reinstall the beam at the new level. Could be that you might want to start on the first floor and get it level first if it is out of level...but you may just want to let sleeping dogs lie and just find a code approved way to support the "flying" joists.
BTW, something caused those joists to sag. IMO, you have to figure what caused them to sag and correct that first even if you don't elect to put things back level and plumb.
It's a question of how much you want to try to set right. In an old house stuff has sagged, and often even the plaster has slowly, over the decades, bent to conform to the new shape. It's nice to jack things up level when you can, but you have to choose your battles -- going too far can pop the plaster off the walls, cause joints to separate, etc.
Determine what has sagged (or was the house built crooked to begin with?) and determine what can reasonably be corrected (now is the time to do it). Then take the appropriate steps.
Except for the details of how you shim things (use "approved" shim material that won't crush), I can't see how this could be a code issue -- you can't be expected to make things "like new" when it might crack the plaster above or cause other collateral damage.