Replacing rim joists in brick house

sylverfoxx · 05-04-2009, 10:44 PM

I have a 6 to 8 ft. section of water damaged rim joists beneath a set of french doors. The rim joists are doubled 2x10`s with no sill plate but have a 2x2 ledger with 2x8 floor joists attached perpendicularly.

I am planning on supporting the floor joists with a 4x6 and jacks.
My question is how do I cut the rim joists with the brick wall directly behind them? I will have to do all the work from the crawl space since the brick will not allow access from the outside.
I have seen flush cut oscillating saws advertised but I don`t think they will cut
up to that depth.
I thought of using a reciprocating saw with a short blade.
Any suggestions???
Thanks

jogr · 05-05-2009, 02:49 PM

I can't imagine how you are going to get the rim joist in place without removing the brick.

sendres · 05-05-2009, 02:54 PM

Is the brick installed directly over the Rim Joist? And is the brick structural or just decorative. If it is decorative, the brick likely has anchors into to it which would mean removing the brick is unavoidable. Majority of brick work in our area is mainly decorative.

sylverfoxx · 05-06-2009, 08:44 AM

Thank you for the responses.
I ran into a bit of good luck and got the rim joists replaced yesterday.

Two things helped greatly.
First, when I removed the rotted out threshold at the french doors, it revealed a large portion of the damaged area of the double rim joists.
Second, there was a space between the joists and the bricks which allowed cutting them with a sawzall.

It could have been a nightmare since the bricks are actually structural. They run from the footer to the eaves. If the damage had been somewhere other than beneath the door, which allowed just enough access, I`m not sure how it would have been done.

As it is, all is well.
Thanks again

Ron6519 · 05-06-2009, 09:46 AM

It sounds like you will need to install proper flashing under this door. You will need to remove the door and run the new flashing up the sides of the rough opening and have it extend past the bottom bricks. Oterwise you'll be doing this project again.
Ron

sylverfoxx · 05-06-2009, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron6519

It sounds like you will need to install proper flashing under this door. You will need to remove the door and run the new flashing up the sides of the rough opening and have it extend past the bottom bricks. Oterwise you'll be doing this project again.
Ron

I will definitely do that !
Don`t want to have to repeat that repair anytime soon.
Thanks Ron