Second Floor Floor Joists

In buildings with basements the first level of floor joists serves the same purpose.

Second floor floor joists.

2 grade of douglas fir are indicated below. The best way to limit annoying flex in a floor is to make sure that joists are sized correctly before a house or addition is built. First floor live loads have higher requirements than second floor live loads 40 pounds per square foot vs. Randy wiebe and his team of skilled builders from rj contracting and consulting finished work for the day on the second floor floor joists with cross bracin.

Live load is weight of furniture wind snow and more. An inaccessible attic space on the other hand might have a live load of only 20 psf. Framing for floor openings a staircase is essential for commuting between floors but it creates an opening in the second floor so you can t run the joists from one side of the house to the other without interruption. Joist span and spacing is set by your local building code.

This size is no longer acceptable when framing a structure. Maximum floor joist span for no. Section r502 10 of the international residential code states that header joists can be the same size as the floor joists when the header joist span isn t greater than 4 feet but if the header joist span is more than 4 feet you ll need to double the header joist and ensure that it s capable of. Additional support for the floor joists is achieved by nailing the ends of the joists into headers.

Dead load weight of structure and fixed loads 10 lbs ft 2. In the past 2x4s or 2x6s were sometimes used as floor joists. When building a house or even a deck it is important to confirm you have the correct joist sizes spans and spacing before you get started. Floor joists align with the wall studs which align with the first story floor joists.

1 psf lb f ft 2 47 88 n m 2. Depending upon the conditions it is possible to strengthen or repair existing framing members such as floor joists or roof rafters by adding reinforcing material sandwiching the member on either side with plywood is sometimes worthwhile but the plywood must be installed correctly for greatest strength. 1 ft 0 3048 m. Floor joists installed on second or third or higher levels double as ceiling joists for the level below.

Building codes specify the minimum joist depth and spacing typically 12 or 16 inches on center for spans up to 20 feet but those requirements are intended to prevent plaster ceilings from cracking not to.