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Our house was built in 1926, and we purchased it about a year and a half ago. The floor joists (which are 2' x 8') are all in good shape (except for some small electrical and plumbing holes and notches that are no longer up to code), but we did discover yesterday that one of them has a 6" long crack in the bottom:   None of the other beams or joists in the basement appear to have any similar cracks. There is an interior wall above this joist that runs parallel to it. I think the knot in the wood introduced a significant weak point that caused the wood to split. For all I know, the crack has been there for decades. We never noticed it because it was hidden behind a bunch of unused telephone wire. Is this something we might want to repair / add additional support to? Since the wood is under tension I wasn't able to squeeze the crack together with my hands at all - I think it would take a clamp to hold it together if we decided to glue it. I'm not sure if we'd also need to use a jack to relieve some pressure, too. Clamping it at all would be challenging because there is a galvanized pipe running right behind it that would interfere with the clamp positioning. I was thinking maybe something like this could be used: https://joistrepair.com/collections/standard-2x-joist-reinforcers/products/dp24-deep-notch-repair-kit-2x8-thru-2x12 What do folks think here? Is this something to take action on? Would the linked product do the job? il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Apr 18, 2024 |
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Apr 18, 2024 23:16
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 09:45 |
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Thanks for the responses everyone. You did inspire me to pull out a poo poo ton of obsolete wiring last night, which felt really good. I will probably leave the crack alone for the time being and we might have a contractor take a look in the next couple months or so.
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Apr 19, 2024 15:49
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One of the things we pulled out was the remnant of an alarm system that was probably installed in the 80s. Some interesting choices were made with the wiring there. Someone decided to drill a vertical hole all the way through the house's main horizontal support beam so they could run a cable to the alarm system's speaker, which they decided to put in he HVAC system's intake duct. The vent is basically glued to the wall with paint, so we can't get it off to get the speaker out of there. Another fun thing I found: Our telephone line drop box is on the south side of the house, but there is another phone line that had been cut that was running through the basement and it disappears into the wall under the floor on the north side of the house. It doesn't budge when you pull on it, and I couldn't locate where it comes out. I have no idea what that was for. Maybe it had something to do with the alarm system? Were water meters ever rigged up to phone lines? Did the house previously have two drop boxes for some reason? It is a mystery. il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Apr 19, 2024 |
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Apr 19, 2024 17:26
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