Frod cortina Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Hello everybody, Here's hoping there is someone who can help with this.... I am converting the loft in my old house that has exposed beam (joists) ceilings. I need to make a stairwell opening. I do not want to use joist hangers or brackets as these will be visible. The joists are 3x8 inch (8x18cm) oak joists in very good condition, no worm or rot at all. The span is 4M and joists are at 52cm. I hope you can see my sketch. My plan is to support and cut back 2 joists to form the opening. To reuse one to form the header and the other the length of the opening, to reduce the opening width. I do not have the space upstairs to have the wider opening to the next full length joist. Please could I have you advice on this plan and will nailing these be adequate? I hope that makes some sort of sense...... thanks for looking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Welcome to Buildhub. Not sure about nails, but what about a concealed beam hanger at each junction? More work, for sure, but likely a better result. Edited to add: there's also quite a lot of weight going to end up on the long beam where the left end of the short horizontal (in the pic) meets it. No idea if that's an issue given the size of the beams. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Hello and welcome! I think you will need proper joints such as mortice and tenon or timber connectors. The surrounding joists may need doubling up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Welcome ! I can't see how the single header is going to take the weight of the staircase as the 8x3 it's attached to would need strengthening and you say this is exposed..?? Quickest and simplest way is to build a short load bearing wall perpendicular to the one at the side of the stairs and hang the stairs from this to give you the support you need. If you want it to stay open plan then a structural UC below the junction of the header and the joist may work but I would expect the header needs to be much thicker. It would potentially need to be fire rated too so factor in cladding it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 @Frod cortina the full length one on left of opening will become a trimming joist and needs to be doubled up or changed for larger sectional size, the short one across the opening will become a trimmer and have the same treatment as trimming. joist hanger required, the other option would be a tusk tenon to preserve the look and age of property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 The joist you are cutting, why not remove it from the brick work and move it over you can then trim your opening you need to work out what member is carrying the load from the stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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