Replacing downstairs load-bearing wall

0 0

Published 2020-11-10

Poorly designed and constructed load-bearing wall across lower level rooms of 2-story house is sagging, causing the upstairs rooms to sag with it. DIY effort to remedy the situation by replacing the load-bearing wall with one at least twice as strong.

This video was for a message made for a friend of mine who knows construction. I wanted to get his thoughts. He stopped by and looked at it, and said that I should add the necessary joists to the floor and ceiling to align with the new wall studs on 16" centers. No need for a bulkhead. A standard wall on 16" centers won't sag as long as the bottom of the studs are resting on a well-supported joist rather than landing on 1/2" plywood between joists. The original construction in 1969 didn't take into account that the weight of the upper story would transfer down to weak spots in the floor, and that floor didn't have much support in the crawlspace. They got the construction done and moved to the next project. I had to rebuild it because the floors were so warped and the walls kept cracking.