Taking up the bathroom floor boards in my home, I was somewhat surprised that the cowboy who had plumbed the bathroom in for the last owners, had cut an almost 2 inch deep slot out of the seven inch by three inch joist. The slots have been made about 2 feet from the wall supporting the joists. This seems excessive to me to run in two15mm pipes Should I consider re-enforcing the joist in some way, if so, some suggestions would be welcome?
TIA tox
Completely unscientific response, but gut instinct would drive me to acquire a short length (two or three feet) of five (i.e. seven minus two inches) by three and firmly attach it in parallel to the existing joist along the area where the slot has been cut ... I have no idea whether a five by six (which is what your damaged-but-reinforced joist has now become over a short length) is as strong as a seven by three but I suspect it is. Clearly, if a five by three joist was sufficient to carry the load, that's what would have been specified in the first place, not a seven by three, so I'd feel more comfortable knowing the extra structure was there to help it!
Not quite true - friend of mine (who works in a materials engineering department at a Uni) did a large project on his house. The roof work because a large problem. Original plans for the roof were accepted and passed by the building regulations. Then, during an inspection or something the BCO then decided that the beams weren't strong enough. I think there were 6x3" or something. In the end they ended up having to use 10x4" beams I think. The funny thing was - the house was being extended out the back and the rear pitched roof was going to be a copy of the existing front one. The front one has stood for > 100 years I think and the original design was much stronger than that but for some reason they required a change to the (previously approved) plans. Working out the loadings etc, he's worked out he can park 2x Land Rover Discoveries on the roof, and it'll still stand the weight! Talk about overengineering!
It was a large job though - 8.5mx60cm RSJ across the full width of the house was just part of the work!
Just because a certain size joist may be sufficient - doesn't mean that they used the minimum possible sizes.
DIt could be that they specified 7 inch joists to allow for pipe cut-outs etc.
Most properties I have seen have had notches cut out way over the size of the pipe so I would not worry too much. If you are still concerned maybe bolt a small piece of joist with a joist hanger along side.
I had a structural engineer visit recently advising on me removing a central brick wall alongside the stairs. My ideas to reinforce were way beyond his suggestions. He seemed happy to hang a couple of joists on a single brick wall only 18 inches wide and 16 ft high!
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