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Bowed floor joists

8335 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Gary in WA
Hello.

My house if about 50 years old. I recently noticed that some of the floor joists in my basement are bowing. Actually, I do not know if bowing is the right word. The joists seem straight horizontally. However, they are bowed vertically where they come to rest on a metal support beam in the middle of the house. I have attached some pics to show what I mean.

Should I be worried about this? Is there a way to fix it?

Thanks!

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Don't worry and yes it could be fixed but difficult and would make zero difference in the house. Very common for wide boards to "cup" and it is based upon their grain.

Bud
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I'm with Bud. When I do the (rare) inspection of a private house in New England, I tell the seller to charge extra when the floors are out of level, part of New England charm, and you gotta pay extra for it.
Welcome to the forums!
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Hmm... usually there is a wood plate on the steel beam to fasten the joists to...how exactly are they nailed down, and no blocking- though that may not be required per Code for your location. Well, at least they are nailed together.

Gary
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Thanks, I feel better now.

Oh and yea Gary, I was thinking they should have put something between the joists so that they couldn't move. They are not nailed down or held in place in any way. I have been tempted to cut some boards and put them between each set of joists to prevent them from cupping any further.

On the oposite side of the joists they are resting on the concrete foundation, with concrete blocks between each joist. They are of course perfect on that side.
There not going to cup any more then they have now, they have had 50 years to dry out.
Mine are like that too. You have to consider that at the top they could be glued and nailed to the subfloor and if you mess with them it could disturb the floor material above and give you a bigger problem.
Mine are like that too. You have to consider that at the top they could be glued and nailed to the subfloor and if you mess with them it could disturb the floor material above and give you a bigger problem.
I certainly agree with your statement but back when the reusing subflooring like this they definitely were not using construction adhesives. Lots of good nails pounded by hand instead of by nail gun but construction adhesives didn't even exist yet.
Yes, but they may have added an underlayment and nailed (incorrectly) to the floor joists. IMO, add some blocking, 2x flat on the beam and as wide, judging by the third pic (trunk on left) of the bottom gap being 3 times the gap at top and two top nails worthless with only one nail holding against movement- hence the bigger gap there. We're waiting for another big one here, had one close to you before; https://www.google.com/search?q=ohio+is+which+seismic+zone&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Gary
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