Bridging Engineered Floor Joists

Building code requires the use of blocking for floor joists that exceed 2 inches in width by 12 inches in depth.

Bridging engineered floor joists.

Craig muir potomac falls va. According to the study bridging may be considered necessary for 2x10 and 2x12 dimension lumber joists with clear spans exceeding about 16 feet and 18 feet respectively based on a 50 psf total design load and l 360. If you prefer you can always call me at the office number below we will be happy to discuss your project monday friday 9am. Approximate length of joist span from outside wall to beam 3.

These same findings are not proven to apply to other types of floor joists i e i joists steel joists etc or for dimension lumber joists greater than 12 inches in depth. Yet it is not uncommon to find bridging not properly installed or missing all together. The catch of course is that the bouncy floor joists must be accessible from below. Consequently they do not see any significant benefit from bridging.

Bridging allows each joist to share weight with its neighbors and can cut deflection how much the joists flex by half. I m no architect or engineer but i feel i can handle diy stuff fairly well. Size of floor joists 2 10 or 2 12 standard lumber 16 on center 2. It s framed with 12 in.

Our code report icc esr 1153 specifically states that bridging is not required for floor and roof tji joist applications. Are joists still in good condition 4. I joists spaced 16 in. O c spanning 20 ft.

However i have a question about installing both a ladder hoist and a pot rack from the ceiling of my 2 story house which was constructed about 2 years ago using georgia pacific engineered i joists thin lumber upper lower flanges with osb webbing for the 1st ceiling 2nd floor. Proper bridging distributes the load on the floor to other joists and over time prevents floors from sagging and squeaking do to floor joists twisting and warping. The first story of my house has a bouncy floor. Even if your floor already has a row of bridging running down the center you can stiffen it substantially by adding two more rows.

Open joist is a revolutionary open web all wood floor truss engineered with superior strength and load carrying capabilities. Floor joist bridging is critical to the structural strength of a floor as shown in figure 1. Blocking is also needed each time the joist overlaps with a center beam and every eight feet between two joists. The subfloor is glued and nailed to the i joists with no bridging between them.

Trus joist tji joists are made with no observable twist and have minimal material variation between joists within any joist series depth.