Damaged TJI Joist what to do?

8 years ago

Just as we were in the home stretch of our house being completed, our HVAC guy, who had to move a dryer vent, cut into one of our TJI joists from the basement into our mudroom. He said he asked our builder, but apparently misunderstood him. We are absolutely livid and very upset. Our house is almost finished and now what?! The manufacturer is coming out to look at the damaged beam tomorrow, so we don't know what the deal is yet, but has anyone had experience with this? Any idea what a replacement or reinforcement would entail and cost?? I know this is kind of a random question, but thanks in advance

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Home Probe

8 years ago

there is a difference between drilling through the center of a TJI and notching the top or bottom cord.... which you should never do! However, depending on the the layout, you may simply be able to "sister" a dimensional lumber joist along side of it...or "head-off" damaged joist and use joist hangers for a repair

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Comments (8)

sktn77a
8 years ago
Don't worry too much. There are specs for drilling hole in engineered joists. You may not be able to run the vent through the existing hole, but either way, if needed, the joist can be reinforced.
Liana
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks so much for your reassurance. As I've been looking through info. about these beams, I've been seeing a lot about reinforcing them. Hopefully they're able to do this in a cost effective way and it won't take too much time off our move in date.
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Elmer J Fudd
8 years ago
Ask the builder.
Liana
Original Author
8 years ago
Actually meeting with my builder and the manufacturer of the beams tomorrow, but want to know what to expect....
mike_home
8 years ago
A representative of the manufacturer is coming to the building site to look at one joist to determine if it was improperly cut? Most likely it is the distributor of the product and not the manufacturer. Whoever it is hopefully he (she) will bring the document which shows the how large an opening is allowed in the joist.

I would not trust the opinion of the builder. He is biased to down play the situation.

Sistering a second joist is the usual fix. If it were dimensional lumber it is simply bolting the new lumber with the compromised pieces. I don't how this would work with a TJI joist. That is the part where you should ask a lot of questions.

Post of picture of the current joist. We had a similar posting a few weeks ago. You should responses from people who are more knowledgeable than I am.
Liana
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for your input. I'm just going based on what my project manager said about the manufacturer coming out, but you're probably right about it being the distributor.

I will follow up with pictures this afternoon when I am able to get over to the house after work. Keeping my fingers crossed it is not a ridiculously expensive and time consuming job...
Elmer J Fudd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It shouldn't be expensive for you - won't it be free? You're paying for the overall job to be done right and for maybe a combination of reasons a mistake was made. I'd think the fix, to do whatever the beam manufacturer says is required, should be on their nickel, not yours.