The builder asserts that there are 5 extra days labor for attaching the joists to the steel Ibeam. LOL I 've gotta remember that one! Posters above have noted the three common methods of interfacing joists to I-Beams. Toenailing, hanging or simply resting joists on a 14' I-beam doesn't take five days! The most extra man hours it has taken the various carpentry crews I've used to install steel I-Beams is, to be generous, four hours per house. And that's strictly for setting the beams in place as per plans and Code. That includes the time to brace and support the beams, modify the pockets on the foundation walls and shim as necessary and match holes on the end of the beams to the studs in the piers. There may also be a requirement to weld the beams to the plates. Check the engineer's specs against what the builder actually does. Or make a point to ask the building inspector to verify. And a crane for a 14 ft. beam? Must be a two-man framing crew.

Hey John, thanks for the quick response. I'm not entirely confident with the "clerk" at the permit store since they said I could go ahead and bolt into the engineered floor joists if in fact that is generally not allowed. In addition... whenever I ask him a question (which has been two seperate occasions) he never has an absolute answer but says: you could do "a"... and when I ask if I can do "b" and give my reasoning he says that would work just fine too.... so he's not all that helpful and I actually trust the experience of people like you more. Regarding the nails/screws... I should have stated my question more clearly (I'm often accused of rambling so tried to keep it short and sweet). I'm aware of the reduction in shear strength with screws, and really was asking the question because I was previously told (actually by you "Unless the plans call for the rail posts to be fastened to the rim joist,or the Wallet wants a little more deck space, We always place them inside with blocking,adhesive,and ss screws. There is never a need to run bolts thru the posts that cause many problems all to themself") to glue and screw the railing posts into the frame blocking (I had been planning to also add thru bolts or use some of the Simpson brackets if required) so I wasn't sure if there was a new practice with framing fasteners. I'm just trying to do it right and get all the details finalized before breaking ground. Most of my help on this project are people with lots of DIY experience but not with the newer ACQ PT lumber. I've read several construction articles recommending stainless (brackets, nails, screws... everything) for construction in contact with ACQ PT lumber, however then they say you can optionally use fasteners with a specific ACQ coating. I'm just trying to avoid the fasteners failing long before the Ipe. Of coarse if this is truly not an issue then I don't want to flush the extra money for SS down the drain :) I appreciate your recommendation on hiring a contractor but I'm a DIY'er for nearly everything... this just happens to be my first construction project and so I'm bound to ask some rookie questions. Thank God I'm asking them before I break ground so that everything is done right. Thanks again for all the info. Chris

Thank you sweet11395 for clarifications. Yes, your understanding is 100% correct!!! I was referring to the rim/band joist of the house (sorry, I am still learning the decking vocabulary). I have a 2x12 under the threshold door. I am in the "design" phase. I plan to use a 2x10 for the ledger (the deck will be 21'x14'). The problem is that my wife wants the decking to be about 4" below the door threshold. If I add 1.5" for the decking and 9.5" for the ledger, I end up with 1/3 of the ledger over the foundation. I was wondering if anyone has seen a ledger bolted to the band joist and foundation. Any ideas/suggestions? I want to thank you all for your help!! I really appreciate it.

I was forced into renovating a second floor bathroom for numerous reasons. Never having liked the layout, I thought this was a perfect time to change it. The room is 70" wide by 126" deep. I wanted to put the vanity on the left wall, the toilet next to the vanity and then the tub on the back wall, drain to the left, so the left wall would become a wet wall. Problem was, the joists ran across the room, not down. Putting the toilet on the left wall would force me to bore 4" holes through 2"x8" joists. The two joists to be bored would sit directly under the tub. A real no-no. I did a little (clearly, not enough) research on the internet & mostly talked to some local building supply stores. I had an idea that laminating (glued & screwed) 7 1/2" X 30" strips of 3/4" plywood to both sides of the joists might provide enough support that the joists could then be bored. And this is where I was ill-advised. I was assured this would provide enough support, and that with 3/4" ply subfloor followed by 1/2" cement board the floor would be solid enough to support the tile I wanted to install. After completing this portion of the renovation and replacing the subfloor, another trusted advisor spoke up and said that I can't do that. I've since stopped the renovation in order to take the time to figure out what to do so that the plumbing and floor support will be safe and to code; hence, my now having found this thread. As an FYI, in doing my second round of research, I stumbled across these metal joist reinforcers - http://www.metwood.com/products/reinforcer . They look like just the thing I need to solve my support issues, assuming I leave the bathroom in it's current configuration. The problem with them for me is that they cradle the bottom of the joist and I don't want to have to tear up the first floor ceiling in order to install them. So, one of my questions for all you engineering gurus with your mathematical wizardry is, if I were to attach 30" long strips of 1/8" or 3/16" steel strap to both sides of the joists, both above and below the holes, do you think this would provide enough support for a full tub of water and a tile floor? If so, how would you suggest fastening them? Should they be screwed independently to each side, or bolted so that they sandwich the existing laminated joists? Further, should I be using some form of glue or cement to 'laminate' the strapping to the bulked up joists (not that I'm aware of any metal-to-wood adhesive)? Another option I have is to remove one side of the plywood lamination I've done. Then sister both existing joists with a new (at least 6', but as long as possible) joist that has one of the joist reinforcers listed above attached. Due to the construction, the joists are fully supported by a bearing wall on the left side of the washroom so these new sistered joists would have the benefit of being supported on one end. Any thoughts on any of these potential solutions? Thanks in advance for anything shared.