Mystery Items You Find - Lets Help Each Other

Scott N

I'm putting new siding on an old midwest farm house. Two story square house with flat topped 4 way roof, probably ballon framed.

The outside floor joists on what would normally be the non load bearing sides have metal plates on the outside exterior floor joists with a rod going through to the third joists from each end where another plate is attached. These appear to be under tension, and spaced approx every 4 feet. Does anyone know what the purpose of these are?

Removal of the old siding on one side has left these rods floating loose. Should new ones be installed and if so to what tension?

I appreciate any insight or answers. Lets all put our mystery items on here and help each other out.

Aframe

They were probably put in to keep the side wall/foundation junction sturdy. The joists keep the front/back walls from moving, but nothing to keep the sides from moving except the flooring

Even though that foundation does not carry the floor it still has weight from the roof coming down on it.
Were the plates on the outside of the siding or behind it? If on outside of siding, I would say this was done as a fix or retrofit to prevent movement. See if the walls are bowed out and check for gaps between baseboard and flooring.

If you cant just tighten them down you could tap them in and put spacer blocks behind the interior plates so you can bury them behind new siding

neolitic

"Probably balloon framed"?
It either is or it isn't.
"Exterior floor joist"?
Do you mean rim joist, or boxing board?
Are the rods parallel to the joist, or
do they run across the joist?
They sound like tension rods and
they aren't just decoration.
I'd really hope you get some "eyes on"
to help you with this one.
Whether they are original or a fix
they need to go back.
They are really working on the sheathing,
the siding was just sandwiched in there,
and if you are going back with something
other than wood you need a solution that
takes the siding out of the equation.
The floor joist on a balloon frame house
don't really tie things together like they
do in a platform frame.
Find out what is going on there!

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Scott N

Neolitic -
Thanks to you and Aframe for your quick replies. I realized I didn't describe the situation very well so let me try to answer your questions.
1. This is a job I was brought in on after a DIY start. In this area of the country - rural Iowa balloon framing and platform framing are still wildly mixed. This house is of the right age to have been balloon framed originally but I don't know what modifications have been done inside. So far all I've seen is the lower 24" of framing.
2. By exterior I meant the end joist. About 10' of band joist has all ready been removed allowing me to sight down the length of the joists on one end of the house.
3. The rods have been drilled through the center of the joists and run across the three joists at each end of the house.
4. I agree they are tension rods. That's the reason I've halted the job and are trying to find out their exact purpose, and the best way to reinstall the ones that have all ready been 'released' by having the siding and board sheathing removed from behind the retention plates on the end of the rods.
5. I'm intending on replacing the board sheathing that was removed (due to rot) with pressure treated plywood of the same thickness, but the wall has moved a little and the retention plates are non adjustable due to age.
6. The owner has chosen vinyl siding over a tyvek wrap with blue board on top of the tyvek. If I can keep the new rod's replacement low profile enough I can float the new siding over it, if not I'll have to plan to space it out properly for a utility trim to go around it.

I'm getting all the eyes on this I can. Including this group. I really appreciate all the ideas and information - comming accross something all ready undone like this is always a problem. If anyone knows the proper amount of tension to reapply, and any suggestions on the how to technique of that would be a god-send. I'm not sure about access space yet, it looks extremely limited but I will find out today.

Scott N

Aframe -
That is what I was thinking. The plates were on the outside of the original board sheathing. The siding was butted to the plates. Being a very old house this could still be a retrofit.

I will check for wall bow and baseboard / flooring gaps. I'll see if I can get access to add the spacer blocks. I'd like to get the proper tension on them but I may have to live with something is better than nothing in this case.

Thanks for the insights.

neolitic

Don't know if this will be of any help
to you, but some may not understand,
so here goes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:B...frame.jpg#file

I am not one who always goes to an engineer
as the default position, but this may really
be the time for it.
Both for the sake of doing right by the HO,
and the CYA aspect of it.
This isn't a standard part of the process,
so it wasa a fix...whether after the fact,
or maybe the problem showed up before
they even finished the house.
An egineer may even be able to find a
more elegant solution than replacing
like with like, but any solution is likely
going to take more interior work than
you or the HO had planned.
Good luck with it.

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