OK, I need to know how badly I screwed up and what I have to do (or have someone else do) to fix it.

I recently drove a couple of 3/8 eye screws into two of the ceiling joists in my downstairs bedroom. They are intended to hold about 100 lbs each, although so far I have not actually hung anything on them for any length of time.

I was real careful about finding the center of each joist -- checked, double checked, and triple checked. Nonetheless, after hearing an occasional, small (yet definitely noticeable) sound of something that sounded bad coming out of that room, I double checked. One of the screws is in nice and solid -- I can put my full weight on it and nothing. The other one noticeably creaks if I try that. So I checked the joist again, and you guessed it, I was off by about 3/8 in. So that one is NOT in the center and now I'm just a little paranoid about what to do.

Do I take the screw out, or will that make it worse? Do I need to have someone come in and fix it? How does that even work without massive reconstruction on the house? Should I just burn it now and collect the insurance? (just kidding)

So, I know I'm an idiot. My big question is how much of an idiot I am, and how much damage my idiocy has done to my house?

Thanks
Ryan

 

Move it over. It will be ok. Trust me.....

Indii

 

Thanks Indii--

You mean move the screw? Is it ok to keep it in the same joist, and just move it to the center (and presumably a few inches away so that I don't just tear out a whole chunk of joist...)?

And yes, I figured it probably would be ok since my bed hasn't come crashing through the ceiling while I'm asleep yet (or landed on me while I've been down there working out, which would really ruin my day).

 

Quit beating yourself up, Valis. I miss wood often. Sometimes I just poke and poke with nail until I've mapped the joist. Seriously. Sometimes drywallers put a whole row of nails or screws off into nothing, then your studfinder gives a bad reading too. Sometimes the wood has splits and voids in it, or a rock-hard knot that nothing will go into.

Like INDII says, just move it over.

 

Haha, ok cool. Thanks, guys.