Floor Framing w/ I-Joists: Building Our Mountain Modern Home, Ep. 23

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:10]Welcome to Life on the Moose. Let's put some eye joist on this house today.

[00:00:13]Before we actually put eye on, we have several little things to do. And several things I've already taken care of. Here, let me show you. You see this light line here at the edge of the seal plate?

[00:00:23]Well, that's because I planained it.

[00:00:26]this 2 by6 in a certain spots curled up just a little bit on the outside edges.

[00:00:31]It's where it wasn't supported by these big plates. And so I didn't want that rim joist to sit funky on there or the joist as far as that goes. So I went around most of the house yesterday and took my planer and just took this edge off. Now we're nice and level and flush pretty much everywhere around, at least in this episode, everywhere I need to go. I installed three more anchor bolts yesterday. Here's one right here. As you can see, without it, I was almost two feet away from the end. And code says you have to be 12 inches, at least within 12 inches of the ends or splices of these boards. Have my air compressor charged up, nailers ready to go, and I started laying out the sill plates for my joist, and we'll do that in just a second. But one thing we have to do is rearrange some material.

[00:01:43]The first construction step in this process is putting on this rigid rim.

[00:01:48]This is a Roseberg product. It's an LVL 9 and 1/2 in. But before we put that on, I want to finish laying out where my joists go exactly. And before we do that, we need to know exactly what the width is of this top and bottom cord.

[00:02:06]2 and 516.

[00:02:09]Okay, we're going to start on this end of the house. That two and 516 is good to know. 2 and 516.

[00:02:17]Now, I'm going to call that 3/8 just for easy math. We don't have to get down to the 32nd of an inch at this point. So, here's what it is. If you hook your tape over here, make a little line on the 16 mark because we are going to be laid out in 16in centers. And I did this first one.

[00:02:39]You want to back up half of that thickness. So, let's call that one and 316.

[00:02:48]So if you back up one and 316, that takes you to this line right there.

[00:02:54]Of course, if you double that, then you have your two and 516.

[00:03:01]That is where the joist will sit right there. So now when you lay the rest of this out, you have to back up your 16 mark to that edge of the joist. This is going to be hanging over, but that's what you want. Mark the 16 X on the right side because that's the side we want. Why do we do it this way? Because of sheathing.

[00:03:25]Sheathing comes in 16 in increments.

[00:03:29]4T 8 ft. It's all divided by 16 evenly.

[00:03:32]So when you hook your sheathing flush with this side, the 16in mark or inevitably eventually halfway will land exactly in the middle of this joist. So, let's back this up to our first mark.

[00:03:47]Now, we just have to hold this tape there for the duration.

[00:03:52]Marked my 32. And by the way, in in Stanley tape measures, all the 16s are bright red. Can't miss them.

[00:04:00]So, four 64 in 80 in.

[00:04:09]Okay. 96 in. And I'm going to come back with a square after I finish this part up. I always want to put an X on the side that the joist sits.

[00:04:23]I want to do this now because I think it's a lot easier than working around that rim board.

[00:04:31]I had several people comment about are these going to be in the way of these hold down bolts and the anchor bolts.

[00:04:39]Well, in theory, no.

[00:04:41]Hopefully they're all laid out okay, but we'll see. Actually, I think maybe that big hold bolt right there is going to be in the way a little bit, but we'll work around it one way or another.

[00:05:12]Okay, I just finished up all my layout.

[00:05:14]Here is where one issue might be. Not the end of the world, but the joist will sit right here. See this line right there? That is that edge of it. Of course, this is the other edge. So, I I'll just have to drill a small section out of that bottom flange. Well, and eventually the top flange, too, because this will be coming up through the floor. Our rim board or our rim joist is an inch and a half inch thick. I'm going to snap a line that is an inch and 7/16 away from the edge here and down there.

[00:05:49]We're going to need that because this will be the cut off side of the joist once we get to that point. And I'm going to put this line all the way around because I want to know where to place my rim board. Because even though we laid these out and snapped the line before we even put the sill plates on, wood is not perfect. Bends a little bit, warps a little bit. I think this would be a good guide to help keep us straight.

[00:06:14]Goodness. Just filled up the chalk.

[00:06:21]Let's see if I can do do this without getting three lines on there. Okay, I need to go on this side of that nail.

[00:06:29]Just going to try to make this thing tight without breaking it.

[00:06:39]Now I'm just going to wrap this until it wraps over itself and hopefully it holds.

[00:06:54]Okay, that looks good. I did put a mark right Oh, there it is. Right there.

[00:07:00]Okay, so we're not That's a 16th of an inch off at the most.

[00:07:04]That's okay.

[00:07:07]This wall is not perfect. So, that'll be sticking over the edge about a 16th there.

[00:07:18]I find that this orange chuck or pink chuck or whatever it is shows up better than the blue on the treated stuff.

[00:07:27]And I'm just going to keep doing this all the way around.

[00:07:32]Always feel like I'm fishing when I do this.

[00:07:39]Okay, let's put that rim board up, or at least some of it. Let's start on this corner right here, and then we'll work our way over and wrap that master over there. I don't anticipate getting much farther, like I said, than those shear walls in this episode. We have a lot going on over here with blocking and whatnot that we'll get to. So, remember I told you the rim board is 9 and 1/2 in. That's what our joists are.

[00:08:02]Technically, our joists are about a sixeenth of an inch less than that by design. And I'll show you why in just a bit. Let's make sure these ends are square and put them on the house.

[00:08:15]Oh, broke down about a 12in square. I'm going to need this for cutting those eye joists especially.

[00:08:24]Okay, that looks good. This one, not so much. This one looks good.

[00:08:48]The manufacturer as well and or your engineer are real specific about installation of these products. this ridge board which which is called rigid board I think is what it's called and the eyejist roseberg I think I mentioned is the manufacturer so I have to nail this every 6 in along this rim joist 8D nails which is 2 and 12 in galvanized because it's going to go into treated wood looks like I'm just going to miss those plates on this side so that's good to the line on this side probably going to tack it every couple of feet and I'll come back and do it every 6 in.

[00:09:37]Does that look right?

[00:09:41]I'm sure it'll be fine. Okay, that looks pretty good. One reason I wanted to leave this line far enough away, a little smaller than this thickness, is it's real easy to come through like this. And if I need to move it that way, it's pretty easy to do. But if I want to move it out this way, what happens is those toenails end up coming out in this direction. Hitting in this direction, it only drives them in further. Make sense?

[00:10:30]Okay. 190 and a quarter. That's what our next board is. Look at that.

[00:10:35]We're going vertical.

[00:10:37]We're almost done.

[00:10:40]Oh goodness. Okay. 190 and a quarter.

[00:11:17]Yeah. Turn this pressure up just a little bit.

[00:11:36]That looks pretty good. Okay, let's do this little leg here.

[00:11:44]Five feet.

[00:12:09]I have two plates that are going to be in the way.

[00:12:12]This plate and this plate right here.

[00:12:44]Ah, like a glove.

[00:13:26]Okay, let's put a few eye joists in. We have four eye joists right here that are going to be short because of this little bumpout right here. It's 140 in and a quarter. And then the rest of them, the length is going to go all the way to the other end. And luckily, I have 24 footers. So, I can just cut two of them in half and we'll be set for what we need right there. Sorry to bother you, Marty. We got some work to do.

[00:13:53]It's okay, Marty.

[00:14:10]Okay. Not all eye joists are created equally. This one happens to have an LVL top and bottom flange. See those layers?

[00:14:18]Just like that beam I was explaining last episode. Same concept. laminated veneer on the top and on the bottom. You can get this with solid wood on top and bottom, but this is supposed to be a little bit better, probably a little bit stronger, probably a little bit straighter. And in the middle, of course, is OSB. But when you combine this together in such a fashion, it's very strong up and down like this. Not so much like this. In fact, they say you're not supposed to carry them like this. At least one person isn't supposed to carry them in the middle because they do get a little floppy. But this is okay. These are only 24 ft long. But they're about oh, I want to say onethird the weight of dimension lumber. And as you probably figured out, they call it an eye joist because it's shaped like an eye like an I beam. Can you see this little circle indented in here? There's another one right here.

[00:15:13]Those are knockouts for electrical or plumbing or whatever the case may be.

[00:15:18]So, I think I'm going to try to put those on the bottom. So, my writing is right. I'm not sure we'll have to get into that yet at this point or actually use these knockouts, but they're there.

[00:15:30]So, we're going to put those so that they're closer to the bottom. They aren't exactly in the middle.

[00:15:36]So, these are manufactured generally in 60 ft lengths and the lumber yard cuts them, rough cuts them usually several inches longer than you need them. And if I order two 12elves, for example, they'll probably send one that is 25 ft long. So, they usually give you a little bit extra to make sure you can clean up the ends. So, I know I'm going to have to square these ends.

[00:16:00]Yeah, you can see that. Not good. So, let's square that up.

[00:16:16]Guess my blade wasn't quite set down all the way cuz that should cut through. So, let's try that again.

[00:16:32]There we go.

[00:16:35]That's a good cut. So, we need three of them at 140 and one quarter. Let's just mark this one.

[00:16:50]140 and 14.

[00:17:04]140 and a quarter.

[00:17:12]So, these two are ready to go.

[00:17:47]Okay, my beams are 3 and 12 in wide.

[00:17:50]Half of that is an inch and 3/4. And that's exactly what the minimum bearing is on the end of an eyejist. So, we're good to go. So, I'm going to split this beam right here and run it all the way to that rim joist right there.

[00:18:15]The manufacturer stipulates that one nail goes on each flange into the plate and one nail goes through the rim joist into the top and one nail goes through the rim joist into the bottom. That's it. Same nails. 8D 2 and 1/2 in long.

[00:18:37]I'll put you on my head on the next one so you get a up close and personal look.

[00:18:41]You're also supposed to keep your nails at least an inch and a half away from the ends to prevent splitting.

[00:19:04]Remember I was telling you earlier that these were designed to be a little bit taller than these? Well, that's because the engineers want this weight transferred down into the concrete and not down through here. So, by having this a little bit taller, that's where most of your weight is. And that's supposed to be like that. Kind of counterintuitive. We're so used to making everything level and flush, but not the case.

[00:19:39]Obviously, there's no support here, but this will have blacking going across.

[00:20:12]Just like that.

[00:20:14]And that's how it's done. So, let's go ahead and cut four of them. Actually, let's just clean up the ends on four of them. And then I'll take them over there and we'll kind of continue on with those four all the way to that end.

[00:22:07]The other end is tight against the first joist I put up. So now I'm going to mark this where I snapped my line earlier.

[00:22:19]I'm just going to cut them right here.

[00:22:59]It still wants to split.

[00:23:02]That'll be blocked.

[00:24:17]Hey, we're back at it again. Today I'm cutting blocking. Not just any blocking.

[00:24:23]All blocking is not created equal.

[00:24:27]This is the blocking under what's called intermediate support. In other words, this goes on a beam where the splices occur, where the butt joints occur.

[00:24:37]That's what this is for. This is not for a loadbearing wall. That's a different type of blocking. And we'll get to that one in a little bit. Let's put these in.

[00:24:48]So, I cut four of these this morning total. And that'll catch us up to where we are. I'm going to put just a little bit of glue on these blocks in the hopes of preventing future squeaking.

[00:25:14]Why not?

[00:25:16]Now's the time to do it, right?

[00:26:13]Okay, finished up that blocking over there. This wall right here, different scenario. This is a loadbearing wall.

[00:26:20]This is this wall right here that runs the length of the house that holds up ultimately both roof lines. This is like the main wall of the whole house, loadbearing wall. And so this gets a little bit different treatment. I'm not going to use those pieces of eye like I did over there. I'm actually going to use a different lvl uh called out by the engineer. It's more like the rim board, but it's a little bit thicker. So a squash block is a 2 by member 2x4 usually that you put here on end. So up and down and it prevents this from squashing from collapsing. Technically you're supposed to make those squash blocks so that the top of them sticks slightly above a 16th of an inch kind of like the rim joist does. That way the load is transferred directly down into this loadbearing stem wall. The engineer called for squash blocks right next to and around these big hold downs, but the issue is I'm not going to be able to get a squash block in here traditionally.

[00:27:23]So, I'm going to do a web stiffener on this side because we don't have enough room and then I'm going to put a squash block on the other side. That combined with the extra blocking that we're going to use will be more than fine. So, now we need to find some 1 in thick material that's 6 in and 9/16 long. All right.

[00:27:43]For our web stiffener, I'm going to use leftover plywood. So, if I put two of those together, it's just a scoch under one inch. That'll be fine. I'm going to glue those together. That'll be just fine. If I would have enough room between that hold down bolt and the joist, I wouldn't even need the web stiffener. That's kind of an extra precaution that I'm using just because I can't put the squash block in exactly the right spot. Does that make sense?

[00:28:11]Probably not. I don't blame you.

[00:28:33]Heat.

[00:28:50]Heat.

[00:29:11]Where are you?

[00:30:22]Okay, now I got to put a piece of lvl blocking between in here. 13 and 5/8.

[00:30:27]We'll make it a tad shy. So, this is my special order 1 and 3/4 in thick LVL.

[00:30:36]This is what the engineer called out.

[00:30:51]Does that look like it'll hold up a roof?

[00:30:55]I think so.

[00:31:27]That's what it looks like up close and personal. So, we'll have to continue that blocking all the way on this stem wall right here. And then once we get over here next to this hold down bolt, then we're going to have to put those squash blocks in. Again, we're going to have to do the same treatment over there. Not the next beam, but the one past that. So, what I'd like to do is cut these blocks ahead of time, have them ready to go so I can put the blocks in and then the joist and then the block and then the joist, etc. I think it's going to be a lot easier that way. Oh, we have a friend joining us. Look at that. Just walks right up.

[00:32:08]I can't quite pet them, though.

[00:34:40]Well, this is a process, isn't it?

[00:34:44]You can't exactly slam them up and nail them down.

[00:34:49]There's always something and getting around. It's pretty annoying right now.

[00:35:08]Wait, I'm not whining though cuz I'm building a house and I'm happy about that.

[00:35:13]Oh, look at that. Right where it needs to be.

[00:35:28]And this I told myself two years ago I was going to have a new nailer cordless airless by the time I built a house.

[00:35:41]Soon maybe.

[00:35:46]Yeah, these big plates, what do you do?

[00:35:49]There's really nothing I can do about it other than cut around stuff. I mean, the plate itself is 3 in. The top of this thing is only 5 and 1/2 Okay, finished up that row I was working on right here the last time you saw me.

[00:36:34]Got this one set, too. Do you notice anything different about this one as opposed to the others? This space right here is actually a quarter of an inch wider than the other ones because I had to get around that 4x4 post right there and it was in the way by about a quarter of an inch. So, I just made this gap wider. No harm, no foul. This is actually where my 8ft mark is. So, sheathing and it's still okay because we have such a wide flange on top. So, being off a quarter of an inch isn't going to hurt anything.

[00:37:11]Just don't tell anybody. I have those two long ones set over there as well.

[00:37:15]It's going a lot quicker down there because I don't need any blocking over that far beam because above that far beam, it'll be open. That's a big open doorway in the primary bedroom or master bedroom or whatever you want to call it.

[00:38:19]Sounds like we're there. As you see, I snapped a line in the center of that beam.

[00:39:58]Okay, I just ran across the biggest problem so far. Here, let me show you.

[00:40:04]I have a handy dandy hold down bolt that is in the way.

[00:40:10]Right there is where the edge of this board is supposed to be, this joist. So, we are about 3/4 of an inch off. So, I'm going to have to notch around that bolt.

[00:40:20]I just there's no getting around it.

[00:40:22]Well, so to speak. I don't like to do it. All the literature says don't do it.

[00:40:29]You can't do it, but I'm going to reinforce it and it'll be just fine. In all seriousness, um I can't imagine that anyone will have an issue with it because it is what it is and and I can't move this joist 3/4 of an inch. That only leaves me about a quarter of an inch on one edge for sheathing. So, what I'm going to do is put squash blocks on each side. stiffen it up that way. And then on this side, I'm going to put web stiffener there and another squash block here.

[00:41:05]It's not going to go anywhere. It'll be fine.

[00:41:45]Okay. Good. Good.

[00:41:50]Okay, I'm just going to go ahead and leave this on here.

[00:43:00]Okay, let's cut these two.

[00:43:03]Put them in place and nail them. And that'll be it.

[00:43:31]Man, am I glad that's finished up. That is most of all of the hold down stuff, the blocking, most of it is on this end of the house. And you might be asking, why don't we have to do that down there?

[00:43:44]Well, that's because that big 8 by8 post holds up a beam. Basically, from this wall right here all the way over is going to be open and all of the weight is going to be on that beam and on that post over here. These are interior walls and they're going to have the burden of that weight above.

[00:44:06]Holy cow, I'm tired. Okay, I'm dirty.

[00:44:11]I'm sore.

[00:44:13]Thank you very much for watching. I'll catch you next week.