I need to replace 3 joists on the second story of our 2 story + basement 1920s townhouse. The joists are rotted on one side all the way into the cement block wall. There is not enough good wood to sister new joists too. The water problems that caused the rot have been addressed and the subfloor and floor are in good shape despite the 1-1/4" sagging in the floor across the 3 joists.
The area includes a bedroom and a bathroom. The bathroom has recently been remodeled. The area is above the kitchen. We will be eventually remodeling the kitchen and could rip out the ceiling at that point and replace the joists from below, but we would like to be able to continue living in the bedroom and bathroom while the kitchen work is on going.
The house is 18' wide. There are no walls under the rotted joists, but there is a wall perpendicular to the joists between the bedroom and bathroom (this is not in the center of the joists/house and does not appear to be a load bearing wall). There is a load bearing beam in the center of the house in the basement, but it doesn't seem like there is a beam in on the first floor ceiling.
Can we replace joists from below and continue living in the rooms above?
I am assuming that with 1-1/4 of sagging, they will need to jack up the floor over a month plus period, would the kitchen renovation be able to progress while that is happening?
Do they need to get to the basement to support the jacks?