Joist Hanger Helper
Install joist hangers solo and with ease using a DIY fixture for precise positioning.
I often find it necessary to install joist hangers before installing joists. Working alone, I always struggled as I tried to hold the hanger in the correct position while nailing. So I came up with the simple fixture shown in the drawing to give me another hand. The fixture consists of a short scrap of one of the joists I’m installing, with a strip of 3/4-in. plywood screwed to its top. A twist strap nailed to the bottom of the fixture tightly holds a joist hanger against the bottom edge of the scrap (a little creative bending of the twist strap creates a spring-clamp effect). To use the fixture, I place the overhanging portion of the plywood scrap on a layout mark on the beam. Then I temporarily stake it to the beam with an awl driven through a 1/4-in.-dia. hole in the end of the strip.
—Jeff C. Johnson, Glen Allen, VA
From Fine Homebuilding #185
RELATED STORIES
- Build an Elevated Deck Series: Installing Joists
- Installing Joist Hangers
- Framing Floors With I-Joists
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View Comments
Be nice if all dimensional lumber were consistent in sizing.
Fine hint, Jeff. Rarely do we see comments from Glen Allen, where I went to high school. I'll bet they have cleaned the dead rats out of the water tower - we used to say that about the taste of the sulfur water. Regards - Al (now in Atlanta)
Easier and faster to tack the joist with a couple gun nails, then go back or have another guy putting on hangers after.
A simple fix would be for Simpson to add a small hole in the bottom to install a 11/4" galv. roofing nail and pre install your hanger squeeze them first to get a snug fit and hold off end of joist by a 1/16" to help suck up the joist. Or punch your own hole?
The easiest, and fastest way is to use Simpson screws. Hold joist with one hand, drive the hex head with the other.
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