I have to reinforce part of my subfloor on the first floor. There is access from below in the finished basement. The spot is just above a 6" x 12" supply duct. Because I have hardwood floors I cannot access from above.
What are my options? I am thinking about cutting out a large section on each the top and bottom, then screwing in a plate later to seal it up.
Q: why do you need to reinforce a 6x12" piece of floor?
OK, were this me (it's not) then the idea of cutting an access in the duct may work. I'd have to see it first, but it may work. When sealing it up, make the patch air-tight (caulk), don't use duct tape in a duct (or outside a duct) as it will fail. Duct tape is really just a very useful temporary material!
I also wonder why you need to beef up a small area of the subfloor.
But as for the ductwork, if it is standard ducts held together with drive cleats every 5 feet, just remove the cleats and pull out the section of duct that's in the way.
Probably needs to be reinforced for a stripper's dance pole.
The air duct is 6" x 12". Installed in 1957. The floor just above it seems to have a soft spot, which is in the subfloor. There may have been an access point there during a major renovation several years ago.
Regardless, the soft spot needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, it is right above the airduct.
My concern is that I may need an area of access that is larger than the duct, so an access panel will not work. In Northern Virginia.
The duct is probably made from galvanized material in 4 ft. sections. Should be easy enough to remove a 4 ft. section in the area you need to reinforce and add the structural reinforcment. If you careful, the duct should go back together without any major leaks. (But use alum duct tape anyway.)
" >I have to reinforce part of my subfloor on the first floor. There is access
??? All I have ever seen around here is 8' using a standard
8' breakOpps, yup, your right, 8'. I have no idea as to why I wrote 4.
this usually happens when I have *too much* coffee!
I don't know about anyone else, but I was assuming the OP had a finished ceiling covering the duct... If not, then even eight feet isn't that much to pull.
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