2x6 Blocking Between The Floor Joists

By building a wall under joists you divide the span.

2x6 blocking between the floor joists.

In general terms joists spaced 16 inches on center can span 1 5 times in feet their depth in inches. A lot of questions revolve around joists when it comes to building a deck. 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. Generally newer home floor joists are made from 2x8s or new engineered i beams older homes however may have 2x6s instead.

While most residential construction uses 2x8 joists with 16 inch spacing there are many other factors you need to consider when determining the proper joist span length. Blocking is also needed each time the joist overlaps with a center beam and every eight feet between two joists. Limiting joist movement also helps prevent gapping between deck boards for a uniform finish. The longer the distance a joist spans without support the more it will flex.

The floor above will be stiffest if you place the wall in the middle of the joists. While it is a good idea to replace rotted material with 2x8s it may require some notching to fit between the sub floor and ledger board. Blocking is fine too but i like the fact that x bridging is unaffected by cupped joists is much easier to get a tight connection and it actually tightens up as joists shrink. Building code requires the use of blocking for floor joists that exceed 2 inches in width by 12 inches in depth.

If you build a wall to support joists be sure to place a stud directly and tightly under each joist. What is the proper placement. Another option is to cut blocks down on a table saw so that they are lower on the top edge but still. How do i keep them even.

It is very easy to over cut the notches and remove the waste in two swift cuts. Prolong the health of your framing with joist tape to extend the life of your substructure prevent water penetration and protect the joist lumber from rot apply joist tape. When using shadoe track or joist cap systems use your mitre saw to nip the top corners of each piece of blocking to allow for the overlap of the fastening system. Joist span and spacing is set by your local building code.

A 2x8 up to 12 feet. Cut blocking to fit so that joist stays aligned with the string. 2x10 to 15 feet and 2x12 to 18 feet. 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.