badly rotted rim joist under back door

[campkropp]

Hello all,

I have a badly rotted rim joist under my back door running a 8' span. I can't seem to get any contractors that are willing to do the job....either to small of a job or they don't the type of work. Question is this:

Is this a type of job that someone who is as my father says "jack of all trades, Master of none". I have been around tools and general home improvement all of my life. If this is a job for the DIY in us all, How exactly would I go about it(Kinda step by step). Working around rainy weather is not an issue here in Richmond VA since we are in the middle of a drought.

I currently have the deck and siding removed and I am patiently(Quickly evaporating) waiting to get this done and on to the rest of my remodel.(Wife is starting to get involved now.

Please Help Me Out, anyone.

Thanks, campkropp

[marson]

It's going to depend on a number of factors. For example, which direction do the floor joist run? What is going to happen if you remove this chunk of rim joist? We can probably get you through many projects involving new construction, but remodelling is another thing-- usually takes some head scratching on site. Pretty hard to do it from here. Post some pics for starters.

[SRN]

If you're a fairly competent do-it-yourselfer, and rent the appropriate house jacks, you should be able to do this with no problem. If the rim joist runs perdendicular to the floor joists, and you have a basement or crawl space it will be easier. I had to do this several years ago on my cape cod when the wall sheathing, rim joist and mud sill all were rotted out from moisture and carpenter ants. I jacked up the side of the house a fraction of an inch so I had just enough room to remove the mud sill and a rim joist and replace them with treated lumber. I made the mistake of buying several basement jack posts to do the lifting which was a big mistake, since they aren't designed our intended to lift. It worked, but what I really needed were several house jacks which are made to lift. You want to adjust each jack a little at a time and lift evenly. You'll also need a reciprocating saw to cut out the bad portion and possibly cut thru nails.

[aemeijers]

Try 'house leveling' in the yellow pages. These are the people with the experience in changing out parts of floor system, more so than a regular contractor. Is this rim joist the one parallel with most of the joists, or the one that caps the ends? Either way, if it is rotted, likely the sill plate is too, so that area will need to be ever-so-slightly jacked anyway, to replace that. (Not to mention sistering the ends of any rotted joists.) If right under back door, can we assume the rot is from the usual fubar'd door sill flashing, and/or wood being buried in the concrete of back porch?

The other guy is right, can't really advise on this without eyeballs on site. You need a pro for this one. I grew up in the business, and I would hire this out. Sounds like you have already done the plausible DIY part, clearing the road for them by doing the demo work. Barring complications, shouldn't be more than a couple days work.

aem sends...