I own a house built in 1898, and I hired some drywall contractors to take down our cracked plaster ceilings to update the electrical and replace everything with drywall. I just went to check on their progress and noticed that they've removed part of a ceiling joist — it's the only damage visible so far, but they're still working. I'm a bit worried about this and want to address it with them. Sometimes accidents happen, and there's a chance the joist was already cracked, but I want to ensure the contractors are being careful. How serious is this issue? It's just a ceiling joist in a bedroom that leads to an unfinished attic. I've shared some pictures of the damage here: https://imgur.com/a/KPYDKXA.
2 Answers
It sounds like the joist was probably already split, and the contractors just made it break off during the demo. It's a minor issue, to be honest. You might want to talk to the general contractor about sistering up that section to reinforce it before they put up the new ceiling. It won't take much time at all—just mention it to them during the next walkthrough.
How did they even manage to damage the joist just from removing plaster? That looks like a new break to me. You could get away with adding double sister joists for extra support, but that wood around the break looks pretty splintered. I’d definitely bring it up with the contractor to make sure they fix it properly!