EZ Lok thread inserts and repairs for joists

[my_name_is_slim_daisy]

Good evening all

I hope you’re all well on this miserable January evening.

After having the pine floorboards loose for so long I’ve decided to finally fix them down again. I don’t think I can take much more of the wobbly floors - I think there’s a slip/trip waiting to happen. But after looking under the floorboards at the joists I have a problem; in many areas, as the floorboards have been lifted and reattached a few times, I’ve run out of places to fix them I.e too many holes or thread erosion.

I also have a goal - to make it easy/painless to remove boards as and when needed. As I still have some CH pipe work and data cabling that may need doing, I know some of these boards will have to come up again so I am thinking of doing the following:

- repair the joists that have run out of fixing space I.e. too many holes. I’m going to drill holes in the joists and hammer in hard wood dowel joints into the joists. Hopefully then I should be able to fix the boards down.
- fix in some threaded inserts into the joists (e.g. EZ Lok) so that I can remove and reattach floorboards without worrying so much that I’ll struggle to reattach them.

Apparently the latter is a favoured technique.

I plan to test this in one discrete location, but I’d love to hear how folks on here have solved these problems.

Thanks in advance.

 

[larry]

I've never used ez lok, ours just get screwed down.

Don't love the look of that connection block though, bare wire on show?? DIY recommendations for wago connectors being a big improvement.

 

[my_name_is_slim_daisy]

I think that’s actually the old electrics - I need to double check with the electrician, but I was planning on removing them before sistering that joist

 

[paulc]

Don't love the look of that connection block though, bare wire on show?? DIY recommendations for wago connectors being a big improvement.

Terminal strip like that wouldn't pass current wiring regs. It needs to be in a suitable box along with Wago type connectors.
As for joists - I've just hammered in wooden splints with a copious dollop of glue. Once the glue is dried, the splints cut flush with the joists, and regular screws used to fix the boards back in place.

 

[Cubist]

Regarding EZ Lok inserts and screw - most definitely do not use these. The insert section, that would fit into the joist, is usually circa 10mm to 15mm long at best. Regardless of its thread type this depth is not sufficient to secure a sufficiently strong grip on the joist timber and as a consequence will pull out when you try to fit the floorboard. Alternatively it will simply strip the inserts external thread to leave it rotating loosely in the joist.

The best approaches are to clamp and/or splint the joist - just as you might for a broken arm or leg - after first flooding the original nail holes and splits in the joist with a wood glue. Clamping and splinting will push the two side of the joist timber back toward each other to then spread the glue internally through the damaged wood. When the glue has fully set the clamps can be removed but any splints used can be left in place. If you are not confident in the glue doing its job you could add further splints later.

 

[my_name_is_slim_daisy]

Thanks folks. I will save the EZ Lok for some furniture!

I found an image of what I think you mean @Cubist ?

Are there any resources I can use - some form of step-by-step guide. What fasteners do you recommend for this?

 

[Flyfisher]

I've not used ez-loks for something like this but don't see why they wouldn't work. However, I suspect they'd be overkill really. I've previously done as @paulc suggested and just used 'filler' splints of wood and wood glue, which should give a solid base to screw down the board. Also, where the joists have split, as in the photo, it may not even be necessary to use any splints of wood if the joist split can be clamped back into position with plenty of glue. Leave overnight and the joist should be solid by the morning. So plenty of options really.

And yes, do something with that connector block.

 

[my_name_is_slim_daisy]

Thanks @paulc the EZ Lok solution has been parked. I’ll stick with the suggestions.

As for the split joists, would you remove the nails? I think they’d be very difficult to remove, and I’m worried I’ll cause further splitting.

 

[Cubist]

I found an image of what I think you mean @Cubist ?

Yes. The idea is to pull the two sides of the joists wood back together to close, as far as possible the splits, and the glue to reestablish the physical integrity. The example you've found there is a trifle over-engineered in my view and relies on drilling 'through-holes' to allow passage of a bolt, no doubt with a washer on the unseen face, to then allow the lock nuts to pull the damaged wood together. The issue with this method, superior though it is, is that you may not have sufficient room to allow easy access to drill the through-holes. Optional approaches are to use two pieces of 20x50-75mm PSE set flush to the top face of the joist and on each of its sides which are then counter-screwed (long wood-screws) from each side. On occasion I have also used 50x50-75mm PSE, again screed into place flush with the top face of the joist to provide and much wide nailing surface for the floorboards - this approach can be useful if some of the floorboards have inconvenient old splits or nail holes that cannot hold a new fastener.

If you can remove any old nails from the joist without doing considerably more damage then do so. Any such you cannot remove will operate as wedges to keep the old splits open and inhibit the effectiveness of the wood glue.

I would be careful if trying to insert slivers or splints of new wood into the cracks and splits - this can work but, if you're a little too heavy handed, you can end up making the old damage worse.