Nail to the rescue

Have you ever tried building a deck by yourself?

It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.

You will have one big problem: when you work alone framing a deck.

How do you support both ends of a joist, while you’re trying to nail one end? A helper would be nice, of course.

You might have more helpers around than you think you do. You might even have thousands of them in your basement, or your tool shed.

Confused?

Then it’s time to meet your helper.

Take out a 2.5” nail and say hello to your new assistant. As you can imagine, the conversation won’t be great, but on the plus side there won’t be any backtalk or complaining, either.

This helper is every boss’ dream.

It doesn’t show up late with a hangover and it works for free.

Now, here’s the trick; drive the nail into the top edge of your floor joist about a half inch away from the end of the piece.

Only drive in the nail one inch.

This leaves 1.5” of the nail sticking up that you bend over. The nail should now overhang the end of the joist.

Let the helper nail rest on the support header, while you fasten the other end of the joist.

After you properly nail both ends of the joist, simply remove your helper nail and move on to the rest of the joists.

Only do one joist at a time. Be certain you safely nail both ends of each joist before moving on. Helper nails are only a temporary support.

Never put weight on a floor joist that is not securely fastened.

It’s possible your framing project will need steel joist hangers at each end of your joist. Generally, joists less than eight feet long do not require joist hangers.

If you are unsure about the requirements for your project call your local building inspector and ask for some free advice.

The helper nail is one of my favourite carpentry tricks of all time.

Oftentimes, I’ll use a helper nail, even when I have a helper nearby.

Why bother another worker when you don’t have to? After all, a good worker knows when to ask for help and when to do things themselves — with or without a little help from a nail.