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Installing I-joists was a great experience compared to 2×12 lumber. There were no twists, cups, waned edges or errant knots. But I’ve found squeeks where ever they sit in hangers. Should hangers be avoided or is there a solution. It seems most of the noise is in the bottom of the hanger where nails are placed in the tabs bent down over the top edges of the bottom chord and the nail that goes upward into the bottom chord. The slight flexing in the I-joist have been loosening these nails. I’ve been removing the nails, as they don’t seem to have much purpose. Any comments?
David
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David,
Like you, I just used TJI's for the first time last year and loved them. Since I hadnt used them before I followed the installation specs to the letter. And like you I had a couple that squeeked in the hangers. When I went to the factory rep about them, I found that the installation specs had been changed to include a shot of construction adhesive in the bottom of the hanger and that the Company, (Trus-Joist MacMillon) had just published a list of fixes for squeeks in their squeek proof floor. The one that took care of both my squeeks was to shoot a drywall screw into the hole in the bottom of the hanger.
JonC
*The adhesive works for regular lumber too. Might want something more substantial than a drywall screw.
*Use a different hanger if possible. The one your probaly using is a simpson ITT11.88 or ITT9.5, which are top flange hangers. You'll find that it is sometimes hard to get the joist to sit snugly in the hanger. The hanger I prefer is the UIT11.88 which is a face mount hanger. I can get the tops of the joists to align better with headers. There are also more nail holes down the sides to keep the joists from twisting (less movement.) Kant-Sag has a hanger with built in barbs to hold the joist tight, I forget the call-out number. I was pleased with that hanger as well. The bottom seemed to be squared off and flatter than the equivalent simpson hanger (maybe there is an equal) You should always follow the manufaturers suggested nailing for the specified hanger, otherwise the product may not be covered in case a warranty situation arises. I use the dab of contruction adhesive and nail off the sheathing well. Lately I have been taking to screwing the sheathing near hangers for extra precaution.
*Go for the glue like Jon and Andrew noted. I've been putting regular construction adhesive in the hangers since our second "Silent Floor" in the late 80's; the first wasn't very 'silent'. I dab the entire bottom flange cradle and the sides of the hanger where the top flang can rub. Only have had one squeeker since - on my own house luckly, and I had access to reglue when it developed the noise.
*Can you actually squeeze enough glue in the right places after the fact? Or do you remove and replace the hangers?David
*After the fact? Have you tried shooting that screw through the bottom of the hanger? Just heard some more bad things about top mounted hangers.JonC
*I couldn't remove and replace it because it has the ears that hang on top of the top flange of the header AND the subfloor was installed. So I used a small tube of adhesive with a small hole and got it in where I could on the bottom and sides of the bottom flange.Messy job but it did stop the squeek.
*thanks all for the helpDavid