Thread: Compromised floor joists

Came across this addition to the rear of a home during an inspection yesterday.
I reported that it was in need of SE evaluation and possible added support.

The plumber could have easily hung these hot and cold sink water supply lines below the joists in this unfinished crawlspace, but instead decided to bore two lines of holes about 1.5 inches in diameter only 1/2" from the edge through every joist. Holes should not be made closer than 2" from the edge when they are needed.

It was worse because this was the exact center of the span of these 2 X 6 joists with a grouted tile floor above in the kitchen.

I did not see any sagging or tiles cracked yet but always wonder what these guys are thinking.

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You were right to report it.

Good catch..

I've caught this a number of times when new construction is built and someone installed BX through all the bottoms of the truss chords in the garage..

Like you said... what's worse is that in many of these cases it would have been *easier* to install the items without damage to the structure.

I imagine he'll be surprised that there is literally $1000's of damage in drilling a few holes...

He may even reply that "It's not a big deal, I drill them like that everyday "

What was the span of the joists? 2x6's 16" oc shouldn't span but around 8.5 feet with a tile foor anyway.

About 8 feet. The rest of the construction looked good until that final step.

Good call Sal.

The plumber must own one nice drill and was itching to use it.

No need for an engineer though, plenty of contractors around that know how to repair that.

[QUOTE=Bruce King;159506]The plumber must own one nice drill and was itching to use it.

No need for an engineer though, plenty of contractors around that know how to repair that.[/QUOTE]

I agree with Bruce. The condition is straightforward and clear to see. A competent contractor or carpenter should be able make the necessary corrections......after a plumber comes back in to reroute those pipes.

What a pain to cut those holes? Was he being proactive and thinking of the next guy when it came time to finish that space?

Maybe he couldn't hit the necessary invert without keeping the lines that high.

Either way, good call for concern.

EDIT: Sorry I assumed they were waste/vent ABS lines in which I was wondering how the heck did he get those in. After re-reading I understand they are water and that the space below is crawl space. I was way off. Just . . . things that make you go hmmmmm???

Back in my home-building days, I had a home with a very large glu-lam beam that supported the wood frame garage above. As I left for lunch, I told the electrician to run all wires around the glu-lam and I will have the framer come back and box around the wires. Absolutely no holes are allowed in the beam.

Too my horror, when I arrived back from lunch, the electrician had drilled numerous holes in all areas of the glu-lam beam.

Luckily (for the electrician) the structural engineer for the job proved that the holes did not compromise the beam beyond design.

In my consulting days, I would bring the trades together before the project and I would tell them that we were trying something new. They were going to have to run all of their pipes, ducts and electrical lines before the buidling was framed. The framer will then come in aand cut anything that was in the way of their framing. They got the point.