Proper Floor Joist Bracing Or Blocking

Whether your home is new or old it is sometimes necessary to install floor joist bracing in order to eliminate squeaking and deflection in the flooring itself.

Proper floor joist bracing or blocking. Floor joist bridging is critical to the structural strength of a floor as shown in figure 1. Establish a permanent deck sheathing fastened to the first 4 feet of joists at the end of the bay or braced end wall. Leave the crowned joist and apply sister joists by sandwiching the board with two new joists. Properly install all blocking hangers rim boards and rim joists at tji joist end supports.

When you build your deck throw the floor joist boards that have gone wild badly twisted or cupped into a separate pile. I use 1x3 pine with 2 medium crown staples to prevent splitting. Cross bracing and solid blocking. Yet it is not uncommon to find bridging not properly installed or missing all together.

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. Just out of view in that ceiling pic is a rat run or at least that is what i call em. Observe the following guidelines. Later cutting this crooked lumber into short blocking makes good use of boards that would otherwise have to returned or scrapped.

Outside joists may not be spaced at 16 oc or may need to adjust to get the proper fit for decking. This size is no longer acceptable when framing a structure. In the past 2x4s or 2x6s were sometimes used as floor joists. Leave outside joists for last and install blocking from underneath.

Bracing will stiffen a floor system prevent floor joists from twisting and increase overall stability however there are actually two types of floor joist bracing commonly used. In buildings with basements the first level of floor joists serves the same purpose. In addition to providing lateral support blocking helps transfer weight to adjacent joists so that the floor acts as a unified system. Make sure your joists are spaced correctly deck joist spacing should never exceed 16 on center with the exception of max deck boards which allow for maximum 24 on center.

Lack of proper bracing during construction can result in serious accidents. Blocking also needs to be provided at the supporting end of a joist. Using 2x lumber for floor joists i install blocking or bridging every 8. That s code around here.

Building code requires the use of blocking for floor joists that exceed 2 inches in width by 12 inches in depth. Ceiling joists i ve never installed solid blocking or bridging before i always install strongback every 8 using a 2x4 flat and a 2x6 on edge. Floor joists installed on second or third or higher levels double as ceiling joists for the level below.