Cowboy builder sawed through joist!

maimee_magic

Looking for advice please. Had the bathroom refitted in our bungalow by a cowboy who walked off the job when I had someone else check his leaking plumbing! He said the bath was a nightmare to fit and now we've looked in the void we see he's sawn right through the joist in the void to fit the waste pipe through. The gap is about a foot wide. Can anyone please tell me if it's ok to leave this or should we see if it's possible to maybe put some bricks underneath the joist to support it? Many thanks for any advice.

thescouselander

Personally I be uncomfortable about leaving that, especially under the bath which will be very heavy when its full.

macman

Post a pic.

Le_Kirk

If you put bricks under the joist, what will they be resting on? Assuming it is an upstairs bathroom, it will likely be the ceiling of the room below and that will not support the weight.

wealdroam

Le_Kirk wrote: »

If you put bricks under the joist, what will they be resting on? Assuming it is an upstairs bathroom, it will likely be the ceiling of the room below and that will not support the weight.

Probably not.

OP told us:

maimee_magic wrote: »

Had the bathroom refitted in our bungalow...

Nilrem

You may be able to put some form of patch across the joist (a suitable thickness of wood either side bolted and glued) at a guess which might be the easiest effective fix, as it wouldn't require taking the joist out, but should from what I understand if done properly give it pretty much the same strength as the original (if not more*), and not allow the two sides of the cut joist move in/out (unlike putting bricks under them).

Of course the preferable thing would almost certainly be to replace the joist if possible, but if you've got to pull up the floor, move the bath etc it could be much cheaper/easier to do the patch.

However I am not a builder, engineer or architect so speak to a professional.


*As the combination of a good glue and bolts can make it very strong (it's a similar principle to a lot of lamination methods). IIRC it's also what they sometimes do to damaged joists in old buildings.

Furts

Nilrem wrote: »

You may be able to put some form of patch across the joist (a suitable thickness of wood either side bolted and glued) at a guess which might be the easiest effective fix, as it wouldn't require taking the joist out, but should from what I understand if done properly give it pretty much the same strength as the original (if not more*), and not allow the two sides of the cut joist move in/out (unlike putting bricks under them).

Of course the preferable thing would almost certainly be to replace the joist if possible, but if you've got to pull up the floor, move the bath etc it could be much cheaper/easier to do the patch.

However I am not a builder, engineer or architect so speak to a professional.


*As the combination of a good glue and bolts can make it very strong (it's a similar principle to a lot of lamination methods). IIRC it's also what they sometimes do to damaged joists in old buildings.

Joists can be bolted and repaired, but this will not be the solution. It appears that drainage has been put through where the repair area would be required. Hence the bathroom work needs to be removed first.

The other unknown is can all this be put squarely at the cowboy builder? Is the bath an exact like for like replacement, or has the location, or waste position, been altered to the request of the customer and this is the end result?

Marktheshark

The possibility of this resulting in a fatal accident are very high if it supports the bath.
You need a 1st fix joiner and quite quickly to fix the joist, it may involve taking up the whole floor boards front to back of the house.

Dan-Dan

Marktheshark wrote: »

The possibility of this resulting in a fatal accident are very high if it supports the bath.
You need a 1st fix joiner and quite quickly to fix the joist, it may involve taking up the whole floor boards front to back of the house.

Fatal ? on a ground floor bathroom?

Marktheshark

We dont know the depth of the void below the house.
We do not know what it supports above.

It wont end well.

ceredigion

Marktheshark wrote: »

The possibility of this resulting in a fatal accident are very

What tosh
Although it is not good and need sorting. the carpenter will have a greater possibility of a fatal accident driving to the job, yet we all do that every day.