Reinforce Joists?

[Spuggy]

Hi,

I'm looking to take down a small internal block wall in our hallway (marked in red on drawing). The wall currently has four 50 x 190 joists passing over it, of which only two appear to be actually resting on it. The joists span 5070mm and sit in blockwork at either end. The wall to come down is approx 800mm in from one end.

The far left joist in the photo is butted up to an internal block wall and appears to have a split in it.

Will these joists need reinforcing (sistering, steel, etc) over this span before the wall comes down?

Cheers.

 

[Munzy]

How far apart are the joists?

A quick scan of the joist span table I found shows a 50x195 joist can span 4013mm @ 400mm centres.

If that table is correct then the full end to end span once the discussed wall is removed will be too great. Will it fall down... doubt it, might it be a bit more bouncy... possibly.

 

[Spuggy]

Thanks Munzy,

Yes, the centres are 400mm.

Would it be ok to bolt a deeper joist (?? x 220mm) down the length of the existing four joists, butted up to the walls either end?

The small drop in ceiling height would not be a problem.

Cheers

 

[Munzy]

That’s what I would do personally but I’m not a pro, someone far better qualified might disagree.

 

[^woody^]

If you have rooms on the side of that hallway the same length, then you can assume the joists span that length.

 

[Spuggy]

A good point that I did consider Woody. There is a room on one side which is the same length, but I thought it would be just my luck to assume all was the same, and then later discover a supporting beam at 90deg running wall-to-wall mid way along!

 

[Spuggy]

Damn it! After pulling down the ceiling in the room next to the hallway which is the same length, I found all the joists run at 90deg to the ones in the hallway.

Back to thinking about sistering deeper timber to the original joists, butted wall to wall, with hefty noggins to prevent twisting.

 

[cdbe]

Stick a piece of rsj under and perpendicular to the joists, between the two corridor walls and box in.

 

[Spuggy]

Hi cdbe, thanks for your advice. Trying to keep a flat ceiling though.

 

[^woody^]

Back to thinking about sistering deeper timber to the original joists, butted wall to wall, with hefty noggins to prevent twisting.

At the point where the maximum span is for that joist section, cut the joists and put in a timber beam made from double joists. Put this on hangers off the the walls, and then likewise for the cut joists to the new beam.

 

[Spuggy]

Cheers Woody, any idea what hanger type would be suitable?