Floor Joist span? - Small Cabin Forum


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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / Floor Joist span?

Author	Message
JohnD Member	# Posted: 7 Jul 2010 11:55 Reply Hi. My brothers and I are just starting the process of building a cabin and the first of many questions is... How long of a span can you have with a 2 X 6 floor joist without a support in the middle? The width is about 14' and we are thinking there needs to be a support in the middle. Thanks and great forum. John.
Rob_O	# Posted: 7 Jul 2010 19:46 Reply This might help http://lmgtfy.com/?q=joist+span+table&l=1
nathanprincipe Member	# Posted: 7 Jul 2010 22:11 Reply Hi, new here, JohnD I was going to tell you I believe the span is 8', then I typed the calculations into the link above mentioned by Rob_O and the results came to a 8'-7" span. If I were you I would split the difference with 7' spans, you can buy standard 8' stock joist lengths and over lap them by 2' ( breaking over your middle girder of coarse) or spend a little more for 16' stock and cut them down to your 14' floor length. Another suggestion is to space your joist 16" o.c. if using 2x6 but you could get away with 2x8's 24" o.c.
toyota_mdt_tech Member	# Posted: 7 Aug 2010 20:02 Reply Quoting: JohnD Hi. My brothers and I are just starting the process of building a cabin and the first of many questions is... How long of a span can you have with a 2 X 6 floor joist without a support in the middle? The width is about 14' and we are thinking there needs to be a support in the middle. Thanks and great forum. John. John, my cabin is plans I had purchased, it uses 2X8 floor joist, the span is 12 feet, they are 16" on center. Flooring is 3/4" T&G nailed and glued. Its rock solid, no bounce. I'd be willing to bet if you went longer, ie 14 or 16 feet, just doing them every 12" centers??? Even then, that might be overkill. The advantage of 2X8 floor joist is you can cover the ends up when you apply the siding as long as you get the 9 foot siding instead of the 8 foot. Assuming you are doing full 8 foot walls (wall studs at 92 5/8") and this even gives you a few extra inches to go down to the foundation wall.