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?