Fixing Termite Damaged Floor Joists

The usual approach is to install a sister.

Fixing termite damaged floor joists. Once the joist was vertical it would fit fine hence the slight floor jacking. Average costs and comments from costhelper s team of professional journalists and community of users. To ensure our content is always up to date with current information best practices and professional advice articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands on experience. Most often floor joists need to be sistered because of two problems either water damage which leads to rot or termite damage that crumbled the joist.

Structural termite damage is a difficult repair because wires and utilities often pass through the joists. But it s usually best to run the sister joist over the entire span. A weakened damaged or over spanned floor joist can have many problems that will require different repairs. How to repair floor joist termite damage written by piyush jain on nov 03 2010.

Deteriorating floor joists posts or beams can be caused by termite infestation water damage or dry rot. Other companies will approach floor joist repair with a one size fits all approach and it rarely will actually solve the problem. Then attach the sister joist using three 16d common nails driven every 16 in. Floor joists and posts support the flooring and damage to them is the most common cause of a sagging floor.

If only a few joists are rotted primarily at the bottom they can be repaired using a process known as sistering after the rot is cleaned away and the timber treated to prevent more problems a new joist is laid beside the old one and fastened to it. When the sagging joists are level apply a generous bead of construction adhesive to the existing joist. Deteriorating floor joists or posts. How much repairing floor joists should cost.

If there was water damage make sure that whatever leaky pipe or condensation issue caused the rot is fixed. Some repairs are simple while others can be difficult. The key to floor joist repair is to address the exact problem a floor is experiencing. Then you must fix the damage since those joists hold up your floor and can t have their strength compromised.

These problems must be addressed firsthand prior to implementing any restoration steps. If termites have eaten through part of a joist under your floor the first issue is to stop the infestation by hiring an exterminator. The reason was the corners of the new joist when at a 45 degree angle caught the top of the beam and the bottom of the floor boards. Replacing joists costs around 100 to 300 for each new joist.

Repairing termite damage is necessary but only when termites are eliminated.