I'm finishing a basement and want to put a non load bearing wall in under a steel I-beam, but do not know how to attach it to the beam. Is there some type of product like a bracket that you can nail to your top plate of the wall and attach to the beam? Anyone got any ideas on this?
The most effective and common method, although the one that probably takes the most elbow grease, is to drill a few 7/16" holes up through the bottom flange of the steel beam on one side for 3/8" bolts with nuts and washers. Don't try to center your top plate, you'll end up drilling through the thickest part of the flange. Make one edge of your top plate flush with one outside edge of the flange. With this method, a non-load bearing wall can be attached to the beam with only a few holes...like 3-4 feet on center.