When should you block joists?

According to the IRC, joist blocking is only necessary if your joists have a depth greater than 12”. Therefore, for most houses, you are not required to have blocking or bridging if you have traditional lumber joists that are 2” in thickness and up to 12” in width as long as both ends are fastened properly.

Is blocking required for floor joists?





Building code requires the use of blocking for floor joists that exceed 2 inches in width by 12 inches in depth. Blocking also needs to be provided at the supporting end of a joist. In addition to providing lateral support, blocking helps transfer weight to adjacent joists, so that the floor acts as a unified system.

What does blocking do for joists?

Floor joist blocking is an integral part of floor framing. It provides lateral strength for a more stable floor structure through weight distribution amongst all the floor joists. This helps to fix/ prevent bouncy squeaky floors in your home.

Is blocking required for ceiling joists?

According to Section 6.3: “Rafters and ceiling joists having depth to thickness ratios exceeding 5:1 (e.g., 2×10) need blocking at their points of bearing to prevent rotation or displacing laterally from their intended position …

Does blocking strengthen joists?

As incremental parts of a building’s structure, joists are not easily replaced. You can, however, strengthen the joists by securing another length of wood to the existing joist, called “sistering,” or reduce wobbly floors with block inserts between the joists, called “blocking.”

Is bridging or blocking better?





We think that metal bridging is much easier to install and accomplishes the same thing as solid blocking. Also, solid blocking seems more likely to cause squeaks because of all the extra joints and nails required for installation.

How do you put a block between ceiling joists?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: If you need it so and you could always do that with blocking you could have a solid beam. Here have these beams running across. And then block across it block across halfway through and strap.

Is rafter blocking necessary?

Rafter blocking is an essential part of the roof framing process in that the blocks provide a stop for ceiling insulation and a continuous surface for the roof sheathing to be edge nailed to. Each block is 2×4 or 2×6 depending on the size of the rafters, and is secured to the top plate.

What is truss blocking?

A new provision in the 2009 IRC , and carried through to more recent versions, is the use of blocking panels between roof trusses to connect the trusses to the braced wall panels below if the heel height is greater than 9¼”.

Where do you put blocks for trusses?



Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: Most likely a shower tub right here toilet right here vanity. Right here. And the wall will come out to about here so there'll be a wall right here so to basically be an 8 by 8 bathroom.

Do you block between trusses?

Blocking is not typically installed in most interior parts of the country because the truss-to- bearing connections and the relatively close roof sheathing attachment is assumed to be sufficient to prevent any movement. – A block may not be required in every space between trusses.