How to Fix a Broken Floor Joist
Fixing Broken, Cracked, Sagging Floor Joists
I recently had to repair a broken floor joist that had cracked. I suppose somewhere in the world there are floor joists that need to be repaired that have wide open, clear joist bays, with no pipes, wires or obstructions. That’s not my world!
From initial inspection it appeared that someone had notched the joist too much and then installed a make shift patch. The notch was made where the floor joist recessed into a wood beam, supported by chimney corbeling.
Corbeling is an “old-school,” overlapping arrangement of bricks with each course extending farther out from the vertical of the wall, than the course below. Corbeling was done for decoration or to support structural beams.
My guess is that many years back, an old vent pipe or furnace was in this location and the contractor needed to cut this section of joist to accomplish the installation. Today, this type of notch is not be allowed by code.
