What is a Joist Hanger?

A joist hanger is a metal connector that attaches one piece of building material to another. Joist hangers come in many styles, with options for smaller lightweight jobs to framing in industrial or commercial buildings. In general, joist hangers are designed for timber-to-timber, timber-to-steel, or timber-to-masonry connections. Deck joist hangers usually affix joists to ledger boards and beams, shoring up these connections to ensure they can combat the elements, big gatherings, and years of use. Joist hangers are required by code when building a deck in many parts of the country.

Different Types of Joist Hangers

To choose the right type of joist hanger for your job, it's essential to understand your options. To decide on the hanger you need, consider: 

• The materials you’re building with
• How strong connections need to be given local weather and expected loads
• Building codes
• Difficulty of installation
• If you need joist hanger sets specifically designed to support joints at an angle

There are many types of joist hangers on the market. To choose which one to use, you’ll need to consider their pros, cons, and what they’re used for. Here are six of the most common and most useful joist hangers:

Concealed Joist Hanger

As the name implies, concealed joist hangers are hidden within the joint they're strengthening. This means they provide the same robust structural support as other joist hangers while maintaining a clean look. 

45-Degree Angled Joist Hangers

Designed for diagonal connections, these angled joist hangers offer stability in angled framing applications. They allow you to build decks with unique shapes or fit your deck to an awkward space while maintaining joint strength. 45-degree angled joist hangers are available angled left and angled right, so buying them as sets is essential!

Wood Joist Hangers

Not all of these hangers are for treated timber.  These hangers can be for interior use and not for treated timber.  The hangers will have different coatings to designate what type of wood they can be used on.

Also known as wood beam hangers, these joist hangers are commonly used to attach wood to wood. The coating of the hanger will determine what type of wood it is designed for. This type of joist hanger is often used to fix beams to joists in a deck substructure, with stainless steel or zinc-coated options best for use outdoors. They can be corner joist hangers, as they're often designed to hold lumber at a specific angle. 

I-Joist Hangers 

Engineered to accommodate I-joists, enhancing the joists' performance and durability. I-joists can span longer distances than other types of joists and they’re a very specific shape – specifically, they’re shaped like a serif capital ‘I’. This means joist hangers have to be specially shaped to fit them and help support the floors they’re designed to hold up.

Mini Joist Hangers

Compact designs make mini joist hangers perfect for smaller-scale projects and tight spaces. In most cases, they can be used for widths of 78mm and depths up to 100mm. These small joist hangers are useful when you’re using smaller timbers, and are often a component in deck building. 

Saddle Joist Hangers

Saddle joist hangers are essentially two hangers attached to a flat plate. This allows them to cradle a joist, ensuring the two hangers are perfectly aligned and the weight is distributed evenly, reducing stress on the beam.

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