I’m trying to correct a situation created by the plumber. In order to install a new toilet he cut out a 2 ft section from one of the floor joists in the basement. The joists are 2x10 that are 16” on center. Since the cut out joist is under the toilet and bathtub area in the bathroom I am concern about the floor ultimately sagging. Clearly the best solution is to put a new 2x10 next to cut-out joist and run it from the outside wall to the support beam in the center of the room. I can’t do that because of all the existing piping in the bays close to the beam in the center of room. If I run the new joist most of the distance to the center of the room, attaching it to the cut-out joists along its length, but don’t support it at one of the ends how much am I giving up? Any thoughts on how best to attach the two joists together?

Thanks for your thoughts ---- Jay

 

You can "sister" another 2X10 to the joist without any trouble. Do it sooner rather than later once the sagging has begun. Whichever length you can easily fit up there will work, but for a 2 foot cut-out I would want a minimum of 6', that would give you 2' on either side of the gap. 3/8" diameter carriage bolts should work fine, I would pre-drill the holes in the piece before tacking it into place so I'm doing a minimum of overhead drilling.
slumlordfrank

 

Here is another way to attack your problem, Sister the two joist on each side of the cut out one. Then now you can build a header between the two to support the one that is cut out. Kinda like building a box around the piped area. Make sure you use joist hangers on all headers and joist.