# Ceiling joists in the garage are sagging



## LanceWill (Jun 20, 2014)

Hello all,
I'm very new. I have no construction experience, and no engineering experience. 

I have a 2 car garage with inside dimensions of around 22'Wx22'D. The ceiling joists run parallel to the garage door, and the roof rafters run perpendicular. My problem is that one of my ceiling joists(2x10 or 2x12, I think) is sagging by about 1 1/2". What I see is: because the supports for the roof are all tied into one joist with no blocking, all of the weight of one side of the roof is on one joist which is causing the sag. I don't really know if that's the reason or not, it's what I'm inferring. 

My plan is to jack up the joist with jack posts, and then sister in new boards along both sides of the sagging joist with bolts. Since I'll be working mostly by myself, or at least with very little help, I was hoping to be able to use shorter boards (8' or 10') and just stagger the seams by 4' or so. 

A) Will this work?
B) When I go to sell my house, is some inspector going to ding me for it?

Thanks,
Lance


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Use construction adhesive in conjunction with the bolts. 

And it all depends upon the particular building inspector, So your best course of action is to get their opinion first, and a proper permit. 

ED


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

You won't need to wait on an inspector to get a ding. You can get that here at no charge for even thinking what you propose.:laughing:


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## mako1 (Jan 7, 2014)

I don't see how one joist would be carrying the load.Pics would help.
When sistering a joist you don't want to use a bunch of shorter pieces.This undermines the application since they can sag at the seams.If you are doing it yourself you can screw and glueGet some PL400 glue.Jack the new joist and the old up together with the glue on one and then use some clamps to hold them together while you nail or screw them together..Make sure the new joist is crowmed up.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Make that CROWN UP , I realize that it is just a typo, my fat finger hits the m or the n often when I want the other one. 

And do use a full length board.

ED


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## LanceWill (Jun 20, 2014)

pic 104: you can see the roof supports that go to the joist in question.

pic 101: shows the amount of sag as the joist has pulled away from a cross support member

pic 99: reverse shot of 104 showing the other end of the joist


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Imposable to see much from those pictures, way to dark to see what's bearing down causing the failure.
Looks like there was one that rotted out between two that where sistered in latter and there still sagging.
That lowered ceiling also makes no since. There's nothing even holding up the outside edge.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

Does the garage have a hip roof or a gable roof? Hard to tell from the pictures. Big difference in the way they bear on the joists.


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

The 2X4s appear to be lighter in color than the rest of the framing. Looks like previous owner may have been attempting to correct a sag in the ridge.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

It is really hard to tell what is going on from those pictures. If that is a good support running across the joists you might be able to pull it back in place with a cabinet clamp and secure it. There is just not enough information and good enough pictures to say for sure what to do. It would be best to get someone out who can see it first hand.


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