"Charlie S." wrote in message
news:65BKe.5875$D4.4999@trndny07...
Looking at the floor joists of our porch I noticed they are resting on a
long board that is nailed horizontally into the band joist. The porch has
to be at least 60 - 80 years old. I can't believe the board has supported
these joist without separating from the sill all these years. I'm not a
carpenter, but I can tell this isn't a good way to support a floor, even
if it is just a porch floor. The joists span 9.5 feet. Pictures of the
3rd - 8th joists in this site http://mysite.verizon.net/stamkis/id2.html
show you how the joist rest on this hanging board. You can't see the sill
it's nailed into.

Need to shore up the porch before putting in new posts. Thus, I need to
support the outer band joist and this joists holding board at the same
time. Was looking to use A-frame structures to catch the both
beams/boards. However, I am just afraid the nails of this joist supporting
board may come loose or crack if I don't do it right. Any way to replace
or support this beam so it will have some more structural integrity?


I wouldn't get really worried if it has held this way for over 60 years. If
you want to reinforce the floor joist to band joist connection the way to do
it is with joist hangers. In this case the ones that wrap around the bottom
won't work so you will have to go with the simple angle plates. As you can
see from the cracks extending from the notches, that's why code doesn't
allow that anymore. The 10D nails made specifically for the joist hangers
have a vertical shear load, not a pull out load, so the 1 1/2 inch length is
plenty.

Not sure where you are going with the A frame. The porch is attached to the
house so you only have to worry about a vertical load. Are you replacing
the block columns? If so, I'd get some 4x4s, foot long pieces of maybe 2x8
and some oak shims from a mobile home supply store (or a bunch of cabinet
shims). Cut the 4x4s 2 inches short of the distance from joist to footer
(if going to ground you will need some 4" concrete blocks to spread the load
on the ground). Put the 2x8s so they spread the load on the band joist and
the horizontal board and put the 4x4 under it. Then slide two oak shims
into the space between the 4x4 and the 2x8 and tap them till everything is
really tight. One 4x4 next to each column (on each side at the corner)
ought to be plenty until you get the permanent columns built. Put a second
4x4 on a floor or bottle jack if you need to adjust for any settling.

Steve.