What Is Floor Joist Spacing

Two options that arise could be your wider 24 and your narrower 12 options for spacing.

What is floor joist spacing.

Live load is weight of furniture wind snow and more. The floor joist spacing is the distance between the centers of any two installed joists. 2 8 s come standard at 1 inch thick. Joist span and spacing is set by your local building code.

Dead load weight of structure and fixed loads 10 lbs ft 2. With some structures floor joists are required to be 12 or 24 inches apart on center. Given that 2x8s are actually 1 inches wide it works out to be 14 inches between each joist. True floor joist span calculations can only be made by a structural engineer or contractor.

Since the example house we are designing for is 12 feet wide we need to find in the floor joist span table a joist size and centering that can span 12 or wider. This means from the center of one upright joist to the center of the next. The larger the deck the larger the joists. In many circumstances 16 inches would be your standard spacing for shed floor joist but this is just a rough guideline.

Normally floor joists are spaced 16 inches apart on center. In general terms joists spaced 16 inches on center can span 1 5 times in feet their depth in inches. 2x10 to 15 feet and 2x12 to 18 feet. 1 psf lb f ft 2 47 88 n m 2.

1 ft 0 3048 m. A 2x8 up to 12 feet. See the image below for an example of joists spaced 16 on center 16 o c. 2 grade of douglas fir are indicated below.

You should check with your local building department for construction requirements in your area. This sample table gives minimum floor joist sizes for joists spaced at 16 inches and 24 inches on center o c for 2 grade lumber with 10 pounds per square foot of dead load and 40 pounds of live load which is typical of normal residential construction.