Sagging Joist Repair for Dummies

A sistered joist

The amount of useless DIY "help" online is, to be blunt about it, remarkable; and one of the main reasons there's so much garbage out there pretending to be helpful is a site named eHow.com. Oh, sure, the idea of posting how-to instructions probably works as long as you have knowledgeable people writing them, but the folks at Demand Media were pretty convinced that anyone could do the research and rewrite real instructions. They were wrong, as "communications" major Erin Maurer so ably demonstrated in the eHow.com post "How to Fix a Sagging Second-Floor Joist."

Just about the only thing Maurer wrote in her post that our staffers found to be of any use was a  single sentence hidden in her introduction. We'll repeat it for you:

"Proper repairs often require a contractor or structural engineer."

No duh, Erin – and they sure as hell require more savvy than you displayed! Here are some of Maurer's other problems: She kept referring to 4-by-6s as "beams." OK, that's just DMS not understanding that anyone who uses lumber knows what a 4-by-6 is. But why did she insist on 4-by-6s in the first place? We may never know... The sagging joist is on the second floor, but Erin never mentioned removing the first-floor ceiling to expose the joists. Oops: you can't repair what you can't see! Maurer's most glaring dumbassery, however, appeared in her description of sistering¹ a joist,

"Hoist the 4-inch by 6-inch beam to the floor joist on the right of the damaged beam. Secure the new beam to the old beam using construction adhesive. Cover one side of the beam with the adhesive and press it in place. Further secure the beam, screwing rafter ties through the new beam into the old support beam. Fit your drill with a screwdriver bit and use wood screws to secure the rafter ties. Apply a rafter tie to the opposite end of the joist."

Oh, so many problems...

• Which "beam" is which, Erin?
• She never mentioned raising the floor to remove the sag: this just strengthens a sagging floor.
• WTF is this "rafter tie" business? Was she confusing a structural element of a roof with some sort of joist hanger? A hurricane tie? How would you "[screw] rafter ties through" the joist and the sister, anyway? Who knows? Unfortunately, she didn't include references in her original...

Our staff unanimously agreed that this is the dumbest description of sistering a joist anyone has ever seen, and also voted to award Maurer a Dumbass of the Day with golden clusters, which puts her in the running for Dumbass of the Year. Go, Erin.

¹ Oddly, Maurer never used the word "sister."

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