Should You Drill Floor Joists

If you re remodeling or building with i joists your lumber supplier can provide you with a set of hole drilling standards to follow.

Should you drill floor joists.

Irc r502 8 and irc r802 7. For those working with the less common open web or floor truss joists fig. If you have manufactured floor joists. Mark the joist at that spot with a pencil.

Measure up 2 inches from the bottom edge of the joist and mark it again. How to drill through floor joists. For this discussion we will focus on the traditional dimensional floor joists. The guidelines for these are shown in fig.

First let s take a look at the code 2012 international residential code to see what is required when drilling floor joists. This sample table gives minimum floor joist sizes for joists spaced at 16 inches and 24 inches on center o c for 2 grade lumber with 10 pounds per square foot of dead load and 40 pounds of live load which is typical of normal residential construction. B the guidelines are simple. When you walk around in your home you probably don t think much about what you re standing on and you might just be surprised by how many layers sit below you every day.

How to position holes correctly so they don t weaken the joist. No greater diameter than 0 25 times the depth of. You can safely drill joists for electrical and plumbing runs without weakening the joists if you follow the rules. Cutting notches and drilling holes in joists.

Measure down 2 inches from the top edge of the joist. Rules for holes in joists. Guide to making safe cuts holes and notches in floor joists and ceiling joists.