Joist hangers that don’t

When working on old buildings, we often make little discoveries that cause us to shake our heads in disbelief.  Andy and Tom recently discovered the situation shown above on a recent site visit.

The photo shows the left and right side of a single existing floor joist. On the left side of the floor joist, someone made the most of a crowded situation by flexing the joist hanger so that the metal conduit could remain in place.  They managed to get a few hanger nails into the beam and one nail into the 2x joist.  Not ideal, but at least they tried.

Fortunately, the right side of the same joist was free of obstructions so that the hanger could be secured directly to the joist and to the beam. But it wasn’t meant to be: they managed to install a couple of nails into the joist, while somehow missing all the nails that would secure the hanger to the adjacent beam. Needless to say, this joist hanger isn't supporting anything.

Simpson has a variety of videos available that show how to install their more complex hangers.  The video below shows a different application, but if you’ve never installed a joist hanger, it will give you a general idea of what should happen.