Joist Check: Not Good!

Bummer! Ajmal & Uncle came over to help out with the decking. But when we laid the decking boards on the joists, the shape of the deck was just not right: (a) the joists were not all at the same level, and (b) the board material was so flexible that it was being shaped by the joists.

We brainstormed some remedial measures:

1. Remove side nails from hangers, and elevate some of the joists using shims
2. Plane some of the joists using a Block Plane
3. Place shims on top of some joists, and then screw the decking on
   

#1 was deemed the best solution since #2 and #3 would involve too much labor/precision. But will the side nails come out easily? I was left to ponder this...