Problems with Bracing Wood Floors

Insufficient Strength

• When a building is initially constructed, you need to install braces that are strong enough to adequately hold the floor in place while accounting for all the stress that the floor will be subject to. This is why engineers or architects are best equipped for calculating how the floor should be braced. The weight and force that is placed on the floor must be calculated before the bracing system is designed. If insufficient bracing strength is provided, the braces may break or bend or simply provide inadequate strength to effectively brace the floor.

Room

• If you try to brace your floors after you notice sagging has started, you might have problems with accessibility. Air ducts, plumbing and electrical wiring all take up room under the floor joists and can restrict your options in terms of cross bracing or sistering of the floor joists. If you have this problem, glue a 2-by-4 to the bottom of the floor joists you want to brace. Once it dries, drill wood screws through the 2-by-4 into the joist to provide extra stability.

Removed Bracing

• When plumbers, electricians or HVAC installers start working in your ceiling, they sometimes have to move things to install their work. However, sometimes this means that they must remove cross bracing. Unfortunately, they don't always replace it. Always inspect the ceiling yourself after these tradespeople have done their work and before the ceiling is put up. Don't install a ceiling until any removed cross bracing has been replaced or compensated for.

Floor Bounces

• If the floor bounces or vibrates, it is a sure sign that bracing has not been adequately installed. Sometimes, bracing is not required structurally and is left out. However, if you're unsatisfied with the way the floor bounces after the initial build, you can add bracing in to stabilize it. Two-inch blocks installed across the gaps between joists or cross-braces, made of 1-by-4 installed in an "X" pattern, will stabilize the floor and reduce the noticeable bounce.