2×4 Floor Joists?!

[E. Gary]

Sorry, originally posted this under another post….

I just bought my 1st house and I find myself in a major dilemma. It turns out the house, which is about 70 years old with a partial basement, has 2×4 floor joists in the basement section. There was an addition made to the house, which was built properly, but after doing some research I realize I have a problem with those 2×4’s. The engineer who inspected the house didn’t exactly fully emphasize how big a deal this is, but did suggest that it would be possible to reinforce the existing joists with steel. Is this true? Jacking the entire house and replacing the existing joists is prohibitively expensive, and I had a contractor tell me that the ballon framing only adds to the problem. Any suggestions?

[tomh]

Joists can be supported on beams that reduce their span. If the space exists to install beams and appropriate foundation footers, and posts below the first floor, you can run beams perpendicular to the existing joists and cut the joist spans into 4 to 6 foot sections. This would be much less expensive than directly reinforcing the joists or jacking up the house. reducing span would eliminate excess deflections and increase floor load capability. It would reduce usable ceiling height in the basement and requires installation of properly sized footings to support any posts that carry the beams.

Check with your engineer and determine if you need permits.

[Author]

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