[Toller]

My house has TJI 230 joists.
I need to hang a couple air filters in my basement from them; they weigh about 60 pounds and are supported by a light chain in each corner.

Can I:
1) put nail into the side of the flange and hang the chain on that?
2) put a screw hook int the bottom of the flange
3) put a 2x4 between two neighboring flanges and put a screw eye into that
4) any of these; engineered joists aren't as fragile as they look
5) a better way is XXXXX

My old house had solid joists an I would have done 1 or 2 without thinking twice about it, but these just look flimsier.

 

[woodworkbykirk]

installing a 2x4 across the bottom web of two joists will distribute the weight more evenly

 

[Toller]

I thought of that, but then I would be putting holes in two flanges. Maybe that does matter?

I was thinking of putting the 2x4 above the flanges and just letting gravity hold it is place. I noticed that they did that in a few places to support drain pipes.

 

[tony.g]

It is not adviseable to bridge across the bottom flanges, as this might affect the bond between the OSB web and the flange.
Better if you could fix some timber to the sides of the web, and fix a bridging piece across those.

 

[Toller]

It is not adviseable to bridge across the bottom flanges, as this might affect the bond between the OSB web and the flange.
Better if you could fix some timber to the sides of the web, and fix a bridging piece across those.

I searched on the Weyhauser web site for "TJI hanging" and came up with instructions for hanging a sprinkler system. It has to be able to hold the pipe (230 pounds) and the weight of a falling installer grabbing the pipe (250 pounds). They recommend installing two 5/8" lag bolts from the bottom (never from the side!) and say that will have handle 500 pounds.
That is 10x what I would have guessed, but I guess it has to be able to hold a sprinkler system, doesn't it.
So I guess my 60 pound airfilter will be a piece of cake. Which is good because I also want to hang dust collection pipes, but they aren't all that heavy either.