Home & Garden Replacing Joists

[Hoops]

I've got a decking style verandah that runs the full length of my house which is about 30 years old, although its under cover the front of it is open to the weather and has therefore rotted the joists (and front bearer which I will be replacing). The joists are a continuation of the house joists, so is it just a matter of cutting the joists at where it meets the house and replacing those joists by siding it up against the exisiting joist on top of the bearer under the house, Or is it more complicated than that?

I don't want to have to get council approval, but at the same time I don't want any issues when selling my house.

Any help?

 

[Caesar]

I don't know much about the technical side of things, but if you're just replacing something that's already there I can't see why council approval would be an issue.

 

[yeah-nah]

The way Id do it is give the deck joists their own bearer which you can bolt to the house bearer once you cut the house joists flush. That way you can flash and seal more easily to keep weather away from your house, makes future repairs easier and also allows you to easily adjust the spacing of the joists, which you may need to do. Id normally check span tables for joist/bearer size and spacing requirements for the type of timber I intend to use. The original builder may have used a different type of lumber and their spacing/size is designed for that. eg treated pine is very good for weather exposed areas like this but its not as strong as an old hardwood, hence the spacing/sizing checks on new bearers/joists.

If your joists are rotten have you checked the stumps/posts underground especially those closest to the weather? Every council is different, so you should check for yourself but Id have thought it would be unusual they want to be involved in a deck joist replacement. If you have to replace stumps however this is probably a different story. This isnt in any way professional advice, just how Id do it.

 

[Hoops]

The way Id do it is give the deck joists their own bearer which you can bolt to the house bearer once you cut the house joists flush. That way you can flash and seal more easily to keep weather away from your house, makes future repairs easier and also allows you to easily adjust the spacing of the joists, which you may need to do. Id normally check span tables for joist/bearer size and spacing requirements for the type of timber I intend to use. The original builder may have used a different type of lumber and their spacing/size is designed for that. eg treated pine is very good for weather exposed areas like this but its not as strong as an old hardwood, hence the spacing/sizing checks on new bearers/joists.

If your joists are rotten have you checked the stumps/posts underground especially those closest to the weather? Every council is different, so you should check for yourself but Id have thought it would be unusual they want to be involved in a deck joist replacement. If you have to replace stumps however this is probably a different story. This isnt in any way professional advice, just how Id do it.

Thanks yeah-nah, bolting another bearer to the house sounds like a good idea. I won't have any issues with span size as I will be using 140x45 joists, the width of my Verandah is 1.5m, and the stumps which are concrete (thank goodness) are spaced at about 1.2m with also a 140x45 bearer. My joists are currently spaced at 400 but can now get away with spacing them at 450 and saving timber

Cheers