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Things About Houses – Joists

By
Real Estate Agent with Premier Property Sales & Rentals RS284559

Joists are essential in the construction of residential houses, they are long pieces of wood uniformly attached to the underside of floors, giving the floors support.

If you go into an unfinished basement and look up at the ceiling you will most likely see the joists under the floor boards of the above floor.

When home inspectors and wood inspectors do their inspections they will look at joists to ensure there are no problems with the wood joists.

They look for evidence of wood eating insects, water damage or major cracks in the wood boards.

These three things are the main culprits that can compromise the strength of a joist or a group of joists.

Wood insects, usually termites can find their way into lower levels of houses and start to eat away at joists.

Water from a leak from an upstairs water source, might go undetected for a while, and begin to rot the wood on the lower level.

And cracks, well that can be age, or something structural.

Since I work with residential houses I have mostly seen wooden joists.

Sometimes when floors are creaky in older houses, it is possible to hammer a Finishing Nail into the floor at that noisy spot, in the hopes that the nail will secure the floor board back into the joist below. But this is not always a given.

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More in this series:

Things About Houses - Ants

Things About Houses - Basements

Things About Houses - Chimneys

Things About Houses - Doors

Things About Houses - Electricity

Things About Houses - Fans

Things About Houses - Gingerbread

Things About Houses - Home Inspections For Buyers

Things About Houses - Ivy

Posted by

Gloria

Gloria Todor and Doug Durren, Realtors®, SFR®

Premier Property Sales & Rentals
610-328 2400 Office Springfield, PA 19064  

gloriaTrealestate@gmail.com
484-431-3686 

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Comments(16)

Trish Cole
Veterans United Home Loans of Puget Sound NMLS#1907 - Puyallup, WA

Good information for any home buyer.  Education is important when purchasing a home, although it can be a little overwhelming for some buyers. That's why having a professional Real Estate broker with local expertise and experience is very important.

Oct 28, 2024 09:06 AM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Thanks for commenting Trish Cole . Yes there is always something new to learn about houses.

Oct 28, 2024 11:15 AM
Gwen Fowler SC Lakes & Mountains 864-710-4518
Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc - Walhalla, SC
Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc.

Baby powder between boards in hardwood floor will sometimes erase the squeek.  I love old homes and great tips on how to keep them instead of taking them down.

Oct 28, 2024 11:44 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

I learned the baby powder trick for squeaky floors several years ago.  The joists pictured look pretty healthy to me.

Oct 28, 2024 02:36 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

CONGRATULATIONS Gloria, on having this blog featured in the "FEATHER NESTERS" group!

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Oct 28, 2024 02:37 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

What valuable information, hope your potential buyers are reading this and reach out to you for representation,, Endre

Oct 28, 2024 02:54 PM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Gwen Fowler SC Lakes & Mountains 864-710-4518 Thanks for sharing that trick with the powder!  I will have to try it since we have some noisy spots and the nail does not help.

Myrl Jeffcoat I hope the powder helped you!  Thanks so much for your comments and for the FEATURE!!!

Oct 28, 2024 02:55 PM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

There is a lot that can be learned about a house by starting at the lower levels. Short cuts are exposed and that would compromise the house and lead to costly repairs.

Oct 28, 2024 03:43 PM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Thanks Endre Barath, Jr. 

So true Ed Silva, 203-206-0754 

Oct 28, 2024 06:33 PM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

I barely know what a joist is which is why I leave that type of information up to the inspector to provide my clients, haha.

Oct 29, 2024 03:37 AM
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Oswego, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning Gloria. Nothing comes close other to bothering me than squeaky floors. I once owned a townhome and removed the carpet and screwed the plywood to the joists. Yep, no squeaks! Sometimes you have to do art you have to do. Enjoy your day.

Oct 29, 2024 06:06 AM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Hi Gloria Todor !  It's interesting to me that many folks have no idea of the important job joists play in holding up a home or building.  The craziest one I saw was a house that the 'seller' who was a DYI guy CUT the joists in several places so he could get some piping installed.  When our inspector saw that it was.....time to walk away kids!  I could only imagine what else we'd find behind those walls!

Oct 29, 2024 12:11 PM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Brian England good way to go.  Doug with his background as a builder/contractor, I've picked up a few things along the way.

Wayne Martin That is one way to get those squeaks silenced for sure!

Anna "Banana" Kruchten OMG...yes some of those DYI houses can be very scary.

 

Oct 29, 2024 07:07 PM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

This is good information to share.

I hope you are having a productive month.

Happy Halloween Images – Browse 1,416,970 Stock Photos ...

Oct 31, 2024 09:06 AM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Thank you Roy Kelley 

Happy November!

Nov 01, 2024 02:15 PM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hello Gloria - I joust a bit at times with the definition of joists.  Just some of the information juggling around in my brain.  Good information.  

Nov 02, 2024 03:01 AM