Floor Joist in the way...

[Scottylaw]

Hi everyone. I'm trying to figure out how to run my new bathroom sink pipes. Currently they run down the inside of the vanity and straight throught the floor into the basement. No problems, the vanity is enclosed, so you can't see the pipes. The new vanity that I want to install is open, so I want to run the pipes inside the wall, so they're hidden, into the basement. Problem is the floor joist runs parallel underneath the bathroom wall that the pipes would go in. I would have to cut into the joist somehow. Any ideas on how this is done? Is this possible?

 

[LiQuId]

if the joist is directly under the wall then I'd have to guess that to be a load bearing wall. the only way to cut away a joist requires you to transfer the load of the joist for a 2 foot span on either side of the joist and sometimes also with the addition of shoring posts under the load bearing wall, thus turning it into a point load. exterior wall ???? if so then no plumbing allowed inside of it. otherwise, still tricky and best to employ somebody who does structural design so that in the event of later problems You are covered by insurance.

hope this helps.

 

[phishfood]

If the new vanity cabinet you will be installing has a "floor" to it, there is often an area under the back bottom corner of the vanity cabinet that is hidden from view. This area can be used to offset the piping back into the wall without being visible.

 

[Scottylaw]

Thank you for the replies. The wall is not load bearing. It just happens to line up with the single joist under the wall. My load bearing walls have 4 joists side by side and supported by the metal poles in the basement. I don't know If that changes anything or not. It is a Cape Cod home with the supports running down the middle lengthwise. My last resort will be to do as Phishfood said and hide them in the back corner. It is not an exterior wall either.

 

[noahlamy]

you might consider cutting a couple of small notches in the top of the joist at a 45 degree angle to move the pipes from the face of the joist to the interior of the wall.

 

[LiQuId]

notching a joist is the same as cutting it, it weakens the joist. Especially if you are talking about a TGI joist, in that case notching the stringer is the same as removing the entire joist.

 

[Scottylaw]

It's not a TGI joist. The house was built in the early 50's. The joist measurement is actually 2x6. Not like todays measurements. If code would allow for notching, that would do the trick. Anyone know what the rules are for notching the top of a joist?

Thank you,

Scott

 

[LiQuId]

If its a joist like you say then I would consult your local building code and reference them. By our codes and from what I know ( this may be outdated as i've not been a framer for a long time ) you must beef up the surrounding structure to accomodate extra strain on the joist you are cutting. On a tgi style joist as well as a regular ( usually a plank ) floor joist you can only cut away a percentage of the structure. here's a link to a Pdf giving you all the info you should need to decide, keep us posted.

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/note07_-_domestic_timber_floors.pdf

keep in mind that this is a UK document, but from what I see its fairly typical to what I've learned previously ( but again Here in Canada