DIY How to repair framing along the old deck lines at the Fixer Upper Main House. This post will cover how to replace framing at old rotten framing. DIY how to steps for wood framing repair to remove rotten framing before we replace the wood siding.
Rotten Wood Framing:
This is the third post in a series of buying and repairing the Fixer Upper Main House here at One Hundred Acres Home. You can check out the post where I go over how we knew this house would be a good candidate as a DIY Fixer Upper. Then check out the post where my husband and I removed all the exterior wood siding.
When we removed the rotting decks and siding, we could see some wood damage on the actual rim joist of the house. Here’s a photo of the back siding after we removed the old deck. You can see the rotten siding along the old deck ledger. Click on the photo to view a larger version.
Here is the actual wood framing with the siding removed along back wall. The framing might look better than it actually was. At the far corner by the back door, there is a hole in the cripple wall top plate where rats were getting in. The rim joist is pretty bad at that corner as well. Do you see the white areas on the photos? That was some weird billowy white mold that I’ve tried to scrape off.
Here is the exposed framing at the front deck. Do you see some of the framing almost looks chipped away? That is actually rotten framing that had the white billow mold. I sprayed it with white vinegar to see if I could stop the mold growth and get a feel for the extent of damage. The framing looks better after the vinegar spray, but, as this will be our long-term home, I decided to replace this rotten framing for peace of mind knowing we’d removed the rot.
How to Shore Existing Framing:
Ok so, in order to repair framing, we want to remove the rotten rim joists, remove some cripple wall framing, and replace them with new framing. However, the exterior walls here are bearing walls, aka walls that carry load from the floor and roof.
Here is a detail drawing that shows a section of the floor framing and how the dropped beam and floor jack provide shoring support while the exterior rim joist and cripple wall is replaced. Please note, shoring requirements vary for each structure! What works here may not work for your home. Contact a local contractor or engineer for direction on how to properly shore your structure.
New, temporary 4×8 dropped beams are used to support the floor joists just inside of the wall line. The dropped beams are supported by floor jacks. This replaces the exterior bearing wall so that we can modify the rim joist and cripple wall framing and still support the house.
Here is a photo looking along the dropped 4×8 beam towards the exterior wall. You can see the floor jacks supporting the ends.
In this next photo you can see the dropped beam and floor jacks behind me. I set everything as close to the exterior wall as I could. You can see that I’m not a large person! But I am persistent. I lugged those dropped beams into the crawl space and set up the jacks myself. So you can too! It wasn’t easy, but eventually it got done. Get yourself a good pear of knee pads and a head lamp if you’re going to be crawling around under a house. They were a lifesaver.
Remove Rotten Framing:
With everything properly shored, I got to it removing the rotten rim joists and cripple wall framing with a variety of crow bars – small, medium, and large; a good hammer; and a reciprocating saw.
Here I am with the removed framing at the front door. Good news: the house is still standing :).
Replace Framing In-Kind:
Replace the removed framing “in kind” which means with the same size and type of wood framing. Here is the front rim joist with new framing. Looking way better yes? I’ll go over why the walls are black in the next post about wall insulation and house wrap.
This is the back wall with the replaced framing along the rim joist and the cripple wall.
If you’ve got a good eye, you’ll catch that I still need a sill plate at the corner wall. Don’t worry, I’ll add that before we close things up.
With the rotten framing replaced, I was able to remove the floor jacks and get ready for the next step. Stay tuned while we transform this neglected house into a comfortable home, all DIY!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comment below.
