Options for bridging floor joists.

atxjoe

I'm getting ready to install my subfloor, but I am considering stiffening up the joists with some bridging first. 2 x 6 joists installed 18.5" O.C. +/- 2 inches (old house, they weren't too exact). There's no blocking/bridging installed today. The joists are 20 feet long spanning 8 feet from beam to beam.

There was a little springy-ness to the floors before I pulled up the wood flooring. But there wasn't any subfloor (just the oak strip flooring laid on the joists), so adding the 23/32 Sturd-I-Flor plywood will help quite a bit. The same oak flooring will be going down on top of the ply, it's in great shape.

I looked at simpson strong ties and they may be my best bet but I'm concerned the uneven spacing on the joists will cause a lot of installation frustration. Can I use continuous metal strapping instead? I can't find any info on using continuous strapping for this, but it just makes sense to me.

Another option is simply adding more joists, which might be a good idea anyway since I don't have support at 48"/96" right now (I know I would need to cut the ply to fit).

Would love some of your experience on how significant an improvement adding bridging is, or if it wouldn't be worth it for 8' spans.

Thanks!

TheCamper

I suggest you consider installing 2 X 6 solid bridging midway between each 8' span. It installs pretty quick and will help stiffen the floor. The sturdi-floor will go a long way to take care of the problem but the solid blocking sould not take long. If you have mechanicals in the way of the solid blocking and the sub floor has not yet been installed then try using some 5/4 X 3 for bridging. The spacing of the joists varies but with your framing square to mark your 5/4 it should cut up easily. Good Luck