[wengang1]

Hi all.
I took a drywall ceiling down in my house and discovered about half the joists have major saw cuts in them, one almost completely through.

Online search says sistering the joists is the solution, but the problem is I can't find anywhere that deals with 2x4 ceiling joists. They're all about floors and rafters.

I'm in Virginia, and my joists have to span 12 feet even (including the two walls they rest on). I have the 12' 2x4's ready to go, but I need to know how to attach them.

1. Is construction adhesive required?
2. Would 2 framing nails every 16 inches suffice?
3. Anything I'm failing to address that might make my house hard to sell later?

Thanks.

 

[stadry]

no nails,,, we'd sister 12" o/c alternating up/down rows-planes w/construction screws

 

[Nealtw]

I would do it with 2x6 if possible. I think 2 nails 16" OC is what you would find in code. But I doubt you would find 12 ft 2x4 ceiling joist in any span table.

 

[chandler48]

Can you post pictures of these cuts? Hopefully these are trusses, but they should not be cut or modified at all.

 

[wengang1]

Photo attached. When I took the ceiling down, I used a circular saw set to 1/2" depth to score it, and then popped it off in big pieces. You can see the worst two cuts on the 2 joists closest to the camera.

 

[Nealtw]

Photo attached. When I took the ceiling down, I used a circular saw set to 1/2" depth to score it, and then popped it off in big pieces. You can see the worst two cuts on the 2 joists closest to the camera.

An Engineer would want a 6' scab with 2 nails 6" O C. And you really should have an engineer look at it.
You are not worried about the span you want to put strength back in the 2x4 that is there.

 

[chandler48]

Looks as if your saw was set at 2 1/2" according to the second one. Why would you use a circle saw to cut sheetrock, anyway?

Definitely have an engineer look at it. He may require mending plates as well as sistering across the gap.

 

[wengang1]

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned my circular saw. The point was I didn't make these cut. For sure I was at 1/2". The reason I did that was so I could score the drywall into big pieces and pop it off without cutting the insulation or the joists.

You can see from the picture these cuts were made with a different saw. One of the cuts is on the top of the joist, and the cuts are at a variety of depths and angles.

 

[dj3]

:surprise:
You mean these cuts were there all this time?

 

[wengang1]

THis is the first time i had to take this ceiling down. I would never have known.

 

[dj3]

Aren't you lucky you found this, now fix it. The first joist sure looks bowed.
I think using 2x6s the length of the existing joists would be better. I'd use 16 penny sinkers.

 

[Nealtw]

THis is the first time i had to take this ceiling down. I would never have known.

Often the manufacture puts there name on the trusses, If you can find that you might just phone them for advice.


It looks like some one was using them as a sawhorse, you should inspect all of them

 

[wengang1]

Often the manufacture puts there name on the trusses, If you can find that you might just phone them for advice.


It looks like some one was using them as a sawhorse, you should inspect all of them

As it happens, I've been replacing the drywall throughout the house over the past 10 years, and this is the last room, so I've actually been hands on with every joist in the house. These were just the last ones. A lot of things about this room look like an afterthought. It was clearly added on after the original construction. But I don't know how so many joists got cut.


What I want to do is use my framing nailer, 3 and 1/4" nails to attach the new 2x4s. Is that ok? I don't know them to have any special holding power over other nails, such as ring shank nails. I know screws generally hold better, but that will take a lot longer to get them done.


Also, I didn't see anybody weigh in on the construction adhesive. I have a tube of it, but I would rather not use it if I don't have to.

 

[Nealtw]

As it happens, I've been replacing the drywall throughout the house over the past 10 years, and this is the last room, so I've actually been hands on with every joist in the house. These were just the last ones. A lot of things about this room look like an afterthought. It was clearly added on after the original construction. But I don't know how so many joists got cut.


What I want to do is use my framing nailer, 3 and 1/4" nails to attach the new 2x4s. Is that ok? I don't know them to have any special holding power over other nails, such as ring shank nails. I know screws generally hold better, but that will take a lot longer to get them done.


Also, I didn't see anybody weigh in on the construction adhesive. I have a tube of it, but I would rather not use it if I don't have to.

When they were installing the trusses they had them upside down hanging on the walls and some one was using then as a cutting table.
That is somewhat normal but most people don't cut the trusses.

Any repairs we do to trusses call for 3" common nails and depending on the repair and the engineer, there can never be to many. We have had engineers that want 2 nails at 3 or 4 inches on center.
When done take pictures so if some home inspector ever calls it you can show what repair was done. Make sure you have something in the background so you can prove the picture belongs to this house.

Spray paint a truss or something for proof.

No glue needed.