Decking.. bent timer frames...

ando

Hi all,

I'm building a decking but some joints have warped on me. The 2x5's rough treated that I have were out the back garden for a few weeks on bricks while I sourced tools. I'm now installing them as the frame joists for the decking, only to see that 2 or 3 of them have warped. You can see in the pic attached they are not level to the outer decking frame. How do I fix this?? Is there some trick or do I just get someone to physically hold them down while I drill in other joining pieces?

Lumen

Did you arrange all the joists cup upwards?

edit: apparently the correct term is "crook" not "cup"

listermint

This is normal you have to plane them level or just above level with a plane.

iwillhtfu

It looks to be bowed out the way and not up and down the way if ya get me.

Put in your noggins and space it out correctly.

If bowed on the veritcal, how far off is it? By the time you put in noggins and decking boards it'll likely level out. I wouldn't be going mad with a plane anyway I don't think I've ever seen someone plane a sub floor.

kadman

How long are they. They are C16, but dont look like cls as I remember it

How were they stacked. No amount of noggins will straighten them. And at the moment they are unsupported
below in the length. You could try a fixed plate below them to pull them down to.

Unsupported over that length, means a lot of movement is going to happen, if i am looking at this right.

garv123

iwillhtfu wrote: »

It looks to be bowed out the way and not up and down the way if ya get me.

Put in your noggins and space it out correctly.

If bowed on the veritcal, how far off is it? By the time you put in noggins and decking boards it'll likely level out. I wouldn't be going mad with a plane anyway I don't think I've ever seen someone plane a sub floor.

Have a look at the spirit level, its not even sitting flat on the outside board.

listermint

iwillhtfu wrote: »

It looks to be bowed out the way and not up and down the way if ya get me.

Put in your noggins and space it out correctly.

If bowed on the veritcal, how far off is it? By the time you put in noggins and decking boards it'll likely level out. I wouldn't be going mad with a plane anyway I don't think I've ever seen someone plane a sub floor.

You've never seen a subfloor planed ,?......


Expect to see more of it so with the way timber is at the moment. Using every last bit of it

Calahonda52

either plane or furring strips

Lumen

garv123 wrote: »

Have a look at the spirit level, its not even sitting flat on the outside board.

It looks to me like the outside joist may be upside down.

Tricky to tell from this angle.

kadman

You cant use long 5x2 as floor joists, unsupported and expect them to stay straight and level Not gonna happen.

It will have more spring in the finished decking, than a midlands maple dance floor.

Whats the length of the 5x2 joist.???

kadman

Maxface

Fairly common with that type of wood. As mentioned you may need some supports along the middle of the joists to stop any bounce. Just flip it over, cut a piece of wood and hammer it in beside the middle of the joist and lift it over level (use a length of wood to lever) screw the piece of wood to the joist and it will fall down to level.

kadman

Its bad practice on so many fronts to have long joist timbers unsupported.
You would be better to put in additional plate midway in the joist lengths for support.

An unsupported deck that length will give all sorts of trouble when the deckboards are attached.
There will be so much up and down movement on that deck, boards will loosen very quickly,
stress on the noggins will loosen them also . Next thing you know, nothing is as firm and solid as you thought.

policarp

ando wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm building a decking but some joints have warped on me. The 2x5's rough treated that I have were out the back garden for a few weeks on bricks while I sourced tools. I'm now installing them as the frame joists for the decking, only to see that 2 or 3 of them have warped. You can see in the pic attached they are not level to the outer decking frame. How do I fix this?? Is there some trick or do I just get someone to physically hold them down while I drill in other joining pieces?

Bridging will straighten out the twist but place all the planks hump up.

chooseusername

If the joists are already fixed then put noggins in starting at the whitewashed wall
Brace frame against the wall and work across .
Don't cut noggins to fit the space, rather cut them to what they should be,
ie ;If joists are 600 c/c and 44mm thick ,cut noggins 556mm.
Hopefully you will have put joists crown up.
Ping a chalk line along any high joists (concave side).
Plane down to line, .
Any joists you plane put extra supports in.

Alternatively ,cut the joist in the middle,
drop it down onto supports to the correct level.
re-connect joist using off-cuts on each side ,coach bolts and double sided
timber connectors.
You'll end up with two smaller crowns, easier to plane off.
Not the best solution , but easiest I'd say

kadman

It makes absolutely no sense to plane any high joists, and only support the ones you plane.

You need to support them all, ideally attached down to a fixed plate.

kadman

Simple approach to building a deck.

Note the size of joists,

chooseusername

kadman wrote: »

It makes absolutely no sense to plane any high joists, and only support the ones you plane.

You need to support them all, ideally attached down to a fixed plate.

If that's in reply to my post, I suggest you read it again.
I said extra supports under planed joists
I agree, they all need to be supported.

kadman

chooseusername wrote: »

If that's in reply to my post, I suggest you read it again.
I said extra supports under planed joists
I agree, they all need to be supported.

Its not in response to any post in particular.
Its information given on the basis of many years in timber frame design.

My points are. There is no need to plane any joists.
The material in question 5x2 is light enough to be pulled down to a fixed plate,
or a non fixed plate attached to all other timbers.

They all need to be supported...we agree on.:)

Lumen

Meanwhile the OP is nowhere to be seen...

kadman

Lumen wrote: »

Meanwhile the OP is nowhere to be seen...

Bound to happen when you announce lockdown restrictions eased.:P

Maxface

kadman wrote: »

Its not in response to any post in particular.
Its information given on the basis of many years in timber frame design.

My points are. There is no need to plane any joists.
The material in question 5x2 is light enough to be pulled down to a fixed plate,
or a non fixed plate attached to all other timbers.

They all need to be supported...we agree on.:)

How would you fix it to something to pull it down in his situation?

kadman

Maxface wrote: »

How would you fix it to something to pull it down in his situation?

Numerous options here , depending on a lot of things that the OP needs to
clarify.

Like what exactly is the ground under the deck. And what is the dimension between the bottom of the joist and the ground.

And how long is the run of the joist. Or should I say rafter acting as a joist.

When/if op comes back to clarify, I dare say he will be inundated with suggestions.
At the moment its like....how long is a length of string.

kadman

Here i s simple DIY video for decking. You might notice references to planing the top of the joists,
as mentioned in this thread too.

But remember this video is referring to timber Joists of 7"+.

The op is using 5x2, a big difference. 5x2 can be forced down to a plate and fixed straight.
7x2 cannot be forced straight, thats ahy they are planed in this video.

Also notice the support beams in the middle of the decking.

https://www.timbertech.com/resources/deck-building/deck-joist-spacing/