How to Repair Cracked Floor Joist?

[cakins]

Don't know if I should even worry about this but . . .

While moving air ducting in my crawlspace I noticed one floor joist that has a crack almost 1/2 way through it right in the middle of the 13' span. These are 2x10 joists in a 1956 ranch house.

I haven't really noticed any springiness or problem from walking above it, but it's placement might also be right at the edge of a closet where no walking really occurs. Haven't really taken the time to figure that out.

Anyway, the crack developed along grain lines which curved into the board instead of running the length of the board.

My gut tells me I should do something to repair it, but I'm not sure exactly what. It's in a crawlspace that has next to no working room so getting a full length joist in there to nail to the side of it is probably out of the question.

Would a couple of shorter pieces, one nialed on each side of the original joist, and extending maybe a couple feet each side of the crack, serve to arrest any further cracking?

Any better way to approach this?

[awesomedell]

Would a couple of shorter pieces, one nailed on each side of the original joist, and extending maybe a couple feet each side of the crack, serve to arrest any further cracking?
This is a good plan of attack to correct the situation. You should use a jack to get the cracked joist back as close to it's proper position and alignment as possible then I would recommend using long torx head screws to attach the sister to the original.

[cakins]

Just curious about the torx head screws. Is there some reason that's better than nails or long deck screws with phillips heads?

P.S. - I noticed you're located in NE Missouri. Where? I live in Springfield. :-)

[awesomedell]

I use and recommend them because the heads just don't ever strip out like phillips screws do and they are self tapping also. This really helps when you're driving into aged framing, lot of times it's hard stuff, especially the oak you find in many older houses in this region.

I'm located about an hour northwest of Columbia, in Chariton County. But we have traveled further than Springfield for big jobs. :D