Reinforcing Ceiling Joists in Attic


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Old 02-23-06, 08:05 AM
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Reinforcing Ceiling Joists in Attic

I am no pro so I am not sure if my terminology is correct, but I am removing a wall in my Kitchen and feel that I need to reinforce the ceiling joists (1 story hom) in the attic. I was thinking would scab both sides; where the two joists butt up against one another. All build a beam out of 2x6 or 8 attaching it accross the joists where the wall is going to be removed to make it more rigid. Any thoughts or suggestions? I appreciate it. Thanks
 
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Old 02-23-06, 04:07 PM
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It sounds like you intend to remove a bearing wall. If so, it's probably not a good idea without getting a professional evaluation by an architect or structural engineer. Quite likely your existing joists are not sized to span the area without the supporting wall in place.
A bearing wall is a wall that runs perpendicular to the joist system. It provides support and reduces joisyt span.
 
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Old 02-23-06, 07:00 PM
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One Thought Wayne

Thanks for your advice. Let give you a little more detail and I am thinking it might be okay. Let me draw a mental picture. Picture a hallway running ( 2 walls) running the entire length of the house and the ceiling joist do butt up in the middle of the two walls and are currenlty scabbed. The hallways are perpendicular to the Joists; one end of the house being A and the other B. End A is the entrance from the breezeway into the kitchen; which is where one of the hallway walls (about 8 foot of it) that I would like to remove. Do you still think attaching a beam to the joists above the wall that was removed as well as attaching another vertical beam from the new joist beam would not be suffecient or still questionable. Not sure if I explained tha well enough, but I gave it shot. Thanks again,
 
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Old 02-25-06, 05:24 AM
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I am not sure that I understand the layout totally, however saying that the joists rest on each wall of the hallway, and then are scabbed in the center, almost makes me think both of the hallway walls are load bearing, and that the scab in the center ties two "overhangs" together. In which case I would be hesitant about removing anything.

MS
 
 

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