How to fix ceiling joist crack?

[Manish1]

Hi, One of my timber ceiling joists is cracked. I dont know how it happened but it is the only part which is cracked. The crack is 10 mm wide and 600 mm long. It is a 2 storey home built in 1985. Is there anyway I can fix the crack with wood fillers? Please let me know the best way to fill those cracks. Thank you

 

[EricL]

Hello @Manish1 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your ceiling joist.

This appears to be serious structural damage to your joist. I don't think using fillers will be enough to address this type of damage. I suggest engaging the services of a builder and have them assess the crack on the joist and ask them for a quote on repairs. It would also be a good time to ask the builder what could have caused the joist to crack that much. 

Let me call on our experienced members @Nailbag and @Dave-1 for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Nailbag]

Hi @Manish1 

It looks like very dried out Oregon that probably had a small split on a knot to begin with. You could ask a local domestic engineer to have a look and see what they think. If it's heavily load bearing they might suggest a full beam fixed next to it. But this is how I would tackle it if it's not and likely how the engineer would suggest tackling it.

 I would be inclined to first fill the gap with liquid nails and clamp it overnight.

Then just for added strength you could get another piece of timber of the same dimension and sandwich the split one in-between. At a guess it looks like 245mm x 45mm, But don't be too concerned if what you get isn't the same by 5mm or so as the same size may not still be available.

Now if the split is say 900mm long, then sandwich it between two lengths around 1200mm. Use 100mm bugle/batten screws to fix these timbers to the old. Then either drive skew drive two screws either side of the new out timbers to the end plate. Or brad nail joist brackets either side.

Nailbag

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Manish1 

The crack may have started small and spread with time, Id be tempted to get a carpenter/builder out to check it and determine what may havce caused it and how to fix it.

That said, I would also head the same route as @Nailbag in a potential repair. Tho not sure I would use liquid nails. I would use bolts through both instead. (even two lengths of timber either side of the cracked section with bolts through them. 

Most importantly tho is making sure that how it happened so it wont happen again.

Dave