# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Attaching joists to bearers

## Chain

Hi
I'm building a basic 3 x 3 deck in my shed for storage purposes. It will be 1.8 high. I'm up to attaching the joists to the bearers. The joists will sit on top of the bearers. I intend to use a Pryda product to make the join. But which tie is the best  :Redface: 
- Joist straps
- Triple ties
- Unities
Another thing. Is there any advantage in using 4 ties per joist. Two at each end on either side of the joist.
Finally, the bearers are used pine but the joists are like iron. Old used seasoned hardwood off Noahs ark. I intend to nail the ties to the bearers but drill & screw them to the joists. Will doing this create a problem. The deck will be completly under cover.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

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## SilentButDeadly

Joist straps. 1 strap per join is fine. Fix with Type 17 25mm hex head screws or 30mm x 2.8 gal strap nails

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## UteMad

If your overly worried solid block your joists with a block slightly smaller than the joist or if your just worried they will move side to side nail a 3x2 block onto the pine bearer snug between each joist.. no need for more than 2 straps per joist and 1 would be ok with a block   
1 last thing is if the joists are that hard is the cost saving worth the headache your gunna have putting the boards on.. we have binned joists before for this reason.. was cheaper to chuck them and save the labour on fixing the decking down 
cheers utemad

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## Haveago1

_1 last thing is if the joists are that hard is the cost saving worth the headache your gunna have putting the boards on.. we have binned joists before for this reason.. was cheaper to chuck them and save the labour on fixing the decking down_ 
If that's the case could he put a lining strip on top of the joist for the decking to be fixed to?

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## Chain

Thanks for your comments & advice.
Joist straps it is.
The joists are petrified wood (used & with lots of nails) but I will be using 18mm used ply as the floor & not boards. 
I hope I have correctly attached the pickies of this is where I 'm at.

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## Bleedin Thumb

You have me confussed there? 
Have you used the hip joists (those 45 deg supports) on your front and back joists because the span is borderline?....it looks like a big span! 
If so what are you going to do with all the other joists? have you consulted your span tables?

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## Chain

In my first post I may have been a bit mis-leading w.r.t the size of the deck being 3 x 3. These dimensions were to give others some idear of the size of the project. Between post centres the size is actually 2.8 (parallel to the bearers) by 2.64 (parallel to the joists).
The hip joists (I thought they were called knee braces) are attached to the front & back joists. The distance between the centres of the 100 X 50 front & back joists is 2.95. They are attached to the outside of the posts. Between these two joists there are nine others to be set in place. They will be spaced at intervals of 33 centimetres. I would expect the the stress grade of the joists to be well in excess of F14. Each bearer is housed 30 mm into the post. The distance between the internal faces of the bearers is 2.68. 
By the tables the max single span for 100 X 50 unseasoned F14 hardwood joists at 450 mm spacing is 2.2 metres.
So yes, I am asking the joists to span an additional 48 cm but I believe the close joist spacing & stress grade of the seasoned hardwood allows for this.
Not that it has anything to do with joist spans, but the upper bracing & rails will be put in place once the floor is down. I try to avoid using power tools when standing on a ladder.
Thanks for your comments.

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