floor joist and parallel partition wall

User: serapions
Posts 2

Dear Sirs,

I have looked carefully and now I see the joist running parallel to
the cement block wall. I have found a diagram in the "Basic
Carpentry" book:
** THE DRAWING IS NOT SHOWING UP PROPERLY
a RECTANGLE WITH VERTICAL LINE DOWN THE MIDDLE
ARE THE BEARING WALLS. The horizontal line in the
middle is the partition wall.
_______________________________
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
l door
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx l
l ----- ===================== < this inside wall sits on concrete blocks (non-bearing)
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll blocks l (partition wall)
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l
------------------------------------------------------

This is the basic structure with one inside load bearing wall (vertical line).
The floor joist near the "xx" on the diagram is very rotted. Also,
the book describes how to build a partition wall. They mention that
the sole plate has to be nailed to the subfloor, and in the case of
masonry floors the sole plate of partition should be fastened with
expander bolts (anchors). My hollow concrete blocks on which
the partition sits do not seem to have any anchors or drilled holes
for anchors.

First, I want to concentrate on the floor joist, which is rotted at
one end. Would it be wise to simply place a new 2x6 beside
the old one (sistering)? In the living room I measure approx.
112 inches from wall to wall. Then if I add the width of the
concrete blocks, I get 112 plus 8 plus 8 or 128 inches
(10 feet 8 inches). Is there a standard length for a floor
joist? I have seen a joist replaced once. The carpenter
took almost the whole subfloor off and replaced the structure.
Since I have only one rotted end, is it possible to put a 2x6 joist
in position by working in the
crawl space and leaving the subfloor intact?

thanks, Paul serapions@yahoo.com
edited by serapions on 10/22/2007