# tips for trim on floor trusses



## jaredashley (Nov 2, 2009)

i built my own house several years ago and was disappointed at how the trim turned out due to the eventual sag of the engineered floor trusses.  i know they are designed with a bow so that they sag down to level when loaded. my trim work eventually looked really short after a couple years. i will be building a new house in the next few months to a year and was wandering if any of you had any ideas on how to deal with this other than waiting to trim the house out for a couple years. thanks for your time and knowledge, i really enjoy reading all the posts here and learn a lot.


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## pianoman (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Jared...I was not aware that there was a design feature allowing for sag. I have trimed many homes with the EFJs and have not heard of this as being a common problem...something I will check into...Who was the manufacturer? Rick


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

"IF" the joists are designed to sag after the load is applied then they should sag just as soon as that load is applied. That is there should be no delay.

I too have never heard of the engineered joists being designed in this manner.

Are you saying that on the wall in the room that the trim is even with the floor in the ends of the wall, but above the floor in the middle? What is happening to the wall? Does the wall not touch the floor in the center? What is the trim that you are talking about? Is it baseboartd, quarter round or what? What is the trim fastened to? Does it also have a gap in the middle?

George


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Jared,
When I built my mom's house in '03, I used TJI's for floor joists. They were 38' long, spanning from outside wall to outside wall. There is a steel beam running perpendicular at the 21' mark. I trimmed it then and haven't noticed any sagging. In fact, Her kitchen, dining room and foyer are all porcelain tiled with 1/2 cement board underneath. 
When I built a house for my friend, we used the floor joists that are built out of 2 x 4 stock with open webs. They span up to 42' and his house is around 13 years old with no sagging problems.
I too would be curious as to what you used and a little more info and pictures on the problems you had.
Mike Hawkins


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## jaredashley (Nov 2, 2009)

sounds like i should do some more research with my next flooring system. i am going to find my paperwork on the current trusses, maybe i installed incorrectly. i have a lot of vmatch pine for wall coverings and door openings with vertical casings and jambs. these pieces of trim are all attached to interior walls. in most places there is a gap 1/8 to 3/16 at the bottom of the boards. is it possible that the trim boards shrank that much? i didn't think that was possible but i never checked the moisture content either. none of this is a majore issue, everything is still structurally sound, i am just hoping to improve or avoid the mistake i made when i build my next home.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

shoe mould


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## jaredashley (Nov 2, 2009)

all is good, woke up this morning and figured it out. the trim in question is attached to the center walls in my house. these walls are attached to a "green" 12x12 rough sawn hemlock carrying beam. i think that while this beam is drying and shrinking the wall is lifting off the floor a little. just posting my issue got me thinking about it more. thanks for all your non-judgemental insight. it is great to have a place to throw ideas and concerns around where no one judges. now that my house is finished looking forward to starting some toys for my daughter.


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

Wood will usually contract & expand with the seasons along it's width not usually it's length. If there is a gap at the bottom of your casing around the doors it's probably something else going on & not the casing getting longer & shorter with seasonal movement.


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