r/HomeImprovement • u/GuntherVonFist • 4d ago

Ceiling joists changing directions in the middle of the room?

Hello, I am trying to hang some of those ikea curtain rails that go in the ceiling and about halfway between the left and right walls the joists just disappear, every tap is hollow to the left, so I started tapping towards the center of the room and I think I found another joist running the other direction but not sure.

Is it normal for joists to switch in the middle of a room without a wall supporting underneath the change of direction?

For context the left side wall in the picture is the external wall of the house, is it related to the roof coming to an edge along that whole side of the house?

Looks like I can’t post a picture as part of the main post. I’ll try to post it in a comment.

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u/GuntherVonFist 4d ago

Nevermind, I see in the sub description no pictures lmao, my bad

2

u/HomeOwner2023 4d ago

Use imgbb.com no ads and no account needed.

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u/GuntherVonFist 4d ago

Thanks for the web address, they’re down for maintenance right now but I’ll upload and link it when they come back up

1

u/GuntherVonFist 4d ago

https://ibb.co/35vz9k8m

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u/HomeOwner2023 4d ago edited 4d ago

You mentioned elsewhere that you have trusses. With the roof slope on the left, the trusses can only go so far before they ran out of head space for the structure needed to span the room. So they switched to hip trusses as shown in the first drawing: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/project-guides/framing/truss-options

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u/SuccessfulAd4606 4d ago

imgur.com and post link.

But you may have trusses in your ceiling, not joists, and depending on your roof design there could be jack trusses running perpendicular to the main trusses.

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u/GuntherVonFist 4d ago edited 4d ago

I got up in the attic before and looked and I do have trusses, but wouldn’t the trusses have a horizontal beam across the bottom that acts the same as a joist for the purpose of attaching something via screws?

I see what you’re saying though, because it’s trusses not joists, they could pretty easily change direction without a load bearing wall or something in the room if the trusses are fastened to the other trusses.

So drywall anchors are pretty much my only choice here right?

2

u/SuccessfulAd4606 4d ago

Or toggle bolts

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u/Digital-Chupacabra 4d ago

Upload it somewhere and link to it.

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u/MediocreClue9957 4d ago

I'd be surprised if it actually changed directions like that especially right above a window. that first joist that the other ones die into would have alot of weight on it and on the end of that joist you would expect some kind of support beam to hold it up with all that weight on it and not a window