Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces - Attic, Den Ceiling Issues

We had a few contractors in our home who decided it would be great to jump in our attic, above the den to install vent pipe. During this process they managed to break one ceiling joist which is now laying on the sheet rock for the den below and they caused two more joists to pull away from the attic support and they are ready to fall. There are three more joists in the same area that have pulled away but they are not ready to drop just yet.

What are my options to install a new joist to replace the one they broke and reattach the other five? We have damage in the den ceiling with nails coming through the ceiling and some of the sheet rock seams have cracked. I know I will need to repair the den ceiling, fill in nail holes and mud tape the cracked seams then paint.

The only offer of repair was to reattach the dropped joist. Well that won't even begin to cover the amount of damage there is and will be caused from banging in the attic above the den.

My husband and I are very good with repairs and we are thinking that we can purchase a new joist and attach this with screws instead of nails. My question is how do I deal with the other joists without going through the den ceiling?

Those joists couldn't have been attached very well in the first place. Usually, you can walk across those things without a problem. Buy 5 or 6 pieces of wood the same size as the joists. Cut them to length. Start with the joists that are loose but haven't fallen. Don't remove them. Add nails or screws to them to reattach them properly. Sister the new pieces along side each one of the three, nailing or screwing them to the plates & to the old joists. Remove the one that fell & replace it with a single piece. Add nails or screws to all the remaining joists.

The joists were secure and flush with the main supports when we moved in. They have plywood in the attic as well. The plywood in this area is now broken down from the jumping and will need to be replaced.

The joists are nailed to the crossbeam from below so the only way to bring them back to their original position would be to come in from the ceiling in the den it seems. Just not sure of any other way to bring them back to their original position without knocking them away from the attic side and then make the joists flush in their original position and use screws.

I really don't want to start cutting sheetrock away and replacing it in the ceiling to deal with this but I don't see any other way. We are thinking about calling in a structural engineer to see if they have any suggestions we haven't thought about to keep from ripping out the sheetrock.

The contractor's boss said it would take an hour to fix. Just nail a new board in and the rest would be fine. I certainly don't believe that.

Just a curious question. How many workers did they have in the attic, and what were they jumping for? Installing a vent? What kind of vent?
Has the "boss" been to see the damage yet? Could you post a couple of pictures of the area from below and above (not close ups) on a site such as photobucket.com and copy/paste the IMG code to your reply post? That way we could see what you see.

Adding joists to the existing joists is a legit way to regain the proper support. It sounds like they had a wrestling match in the attic. I can't imagine what they were doing that would cause all that damage. Most times you can't get those joists to move an inch.

Pictures would be a big help. Always include wide angles as well as close ups.

Sorry Pulpo, the only reason I asked for no closeups was we usually get a macro picture of a corner of a window, and they ask about how to latch it. A wider shot would help.

They were installing an exhaust vent for the upstairs bathroom. Yes the boss was here and no help. Instead of using a ladder they jumped to throw the vent pipe over some supports in the attic. We hired a structural engineer to come look at things. We can add temporary supports so the walls won't start adjusting for the deflection, which they are doing already.

Since they are attached to load bearing walls, the only way to properly fix this according to the engineer is to rip out the ceiling and have the joists replaced because trying to attach them back in the middle where the deflection is will only cause the ends at the load bearing walls to have problems.

So this means ripping out my ceiling and some of the outside of the home to see all of the joists, then have someone replace the four joists, replace my ceiling, prime and paint.

We are not happy at all. :madhell: