Partial cut.

Eric Shuman · 11-08-2007, 05:13 PM

One year old home. There is a partial cut in the top of this I-Joist. It goes from about 1/2 inch at one side of the the flange to nothing at the other side (first photo). The joist is well supported by top plates below. The builder had the truss manufacturer's "Strategic Sales Rep" (not the manufacturer's engineer) out to to have a look and he said no problem. The builder did have an engineer come out as well. The only comment the engineer made was "I defer to the Truss rep's opinion" but would not address the issue himself.

The floor sheathing was cut out at this area because of a large dip in the floor that the homeowner was concerned about. Turns out that where sets of floor trusses meet up perpindicular to each other, the tops of the flanges were not at the same heights (about 1/2 inch difference at the meeting point, second photo) which was causing the sheating to dip down rather noticeably. I'm not sure why the truss tops were not flush other than poor workmanship.

Customer wants to know if they should get an engineer's letter stating that there is nothing wrong here. So far no one wants to put anything in writing. My thought is engineer inspection and a written statement that this area either is, or is not problematic structurally

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Eric

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**Jim Luttrall** · 11-08-2007, 05:54 PM

There is a reason no one wants to put anything in writing... they don't want the liability... do you?
I would recommend something in writing from an engineer or replacement of the damaged component(s), their choice. There is an obvious problem with the installation and the cut in the Joist did not help.

**Jerry Peck** · 11-08-2007, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Eric Shuman

There is a partial cut in the top of this I-Joist. It goes from about 1/2 inch at one side of the the flange to nothing at the other side (first photo).

Eric,

That cut was made with a saw blade, obviously, and saw blades make a saw cut (kerf) the same width all the way across the cut.

That angled cut means the top 2x as deflected in two directions: 1) bowed to one side, closing the cut up on the concave side; 2) deflected down, closing the cut up at the top.

Don't you love it when someone buys a new circular saw and becomes a 'carpenter' ... hmmmmm, if I set this blade all the way down, I know it will be deep enough to cut through that floor sheathing ...

**Billy Stephens** · 11-08-2007, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by Eric Shuman

The builder had the truss manufacturer's "Strategic Sales Rep" (not the manufacturer's engineer) out to to have a look and he said no problem.

The only comment the engineer made was "I defer to the Truss rep's opinion" Turns out that where sets of floor trusses meet up perpindicular to each other, the tops of the flanges were not at the same heights (about 1/2 inch difference at the meeting point, second photo) Eric

Eric,

Strategic As IN I NEED TO KEEP SELLING THIS GUY MY STUFF! Did He also say the
truss was installed to manufactures instructions? Is toenailing 2 nails the proper install method for his product?

Eric Shuman · 11-09-2007, 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Eric,

Don't you love it when someone buys a new circular saw and becomes a 'carpenter' ... hmmmmm, if I set this blade all the way down, I know it will be deep enough to cut through that floor sheathing ...

Yeah, looks like the top of one of my wooden sawhorses.

Originally Posted by Billy Stephens

Eric,

Strategic As IN I NEED TO KEEP SELLING THIS GUY MY STUFF! Did He also say the
truss was installed to manufactures instructions? Is toenailing 2 nails the proper install method for his product?

Yeah, or as in, the strategy is to shut the homeowner up.

I would have been more impressed if his business card had P.E. written on it instead of Strategic Sales Rep.

I noticed the toenails too. I would think it should have been blocked at the end to prevent rotation.

Eric