MEJ

Cracked Joists

I am in the middle of rehabbing a 1961 Cape house in CT. A few days ago I found a cracked joist bulging slightly through a ceiling. Alarmed, but I reasoned it out and decided to just sister the joist and replace the ceiling in that spot. Now I've found 3 more cracked joists in the basement as well as some patch up work by the last owner. Additionally the main beam is supported by several metal beams, and I am not sure if it's been raised too high at some point as there is a slight bulge in the main floor over the beam, as well as the second floor. I am not sure how to handle this one. The floors are mostly level, except for this one run through the house, foundation looks great. I dont know if I should consider this a structural problem of some sort requiring some more serious intervention, or whether I can just fix the joists in question and consider the main beam a non- issue. I do know that at some point there was a pretty bad flood in the basement as the gutters were all routed directly towards the foundation. that has since been remedied and I dont see any evidence of recent water issues. Any thoughts?

rjanscha

I would be surprised if the few cracked joists you have pose any structural problem - the load path will route around them, with plenty of safety factor still built into the structure. I had a cracked joist flanked by several with improper holes drilled in them by some balloon-headed contractor of days past. I sistered the four joists as they will be supporting a heavy load (piano). Let us know how you plan to maneauver the new joists into postiion - this can be the trickiest part.