About Us

More than 30 years ago, Bob Watkins designed and patented a simple—but brilliant—solution for connecting joists, beams, and trusses to Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) walls: the Original Watkins Hanger. As an ICF contractor himself, Bob built the hanger to solve a real jobsite problem, and it quickly earned the trust of builders who needed reliable bearing support for multi-story ICF work.

At the time, orders could take weeks to arrive. One of Bob’s Midwest contractor customers called to place an order and learned Bob was thinking about retiring. Rather than let the design disappear, that customer asked for Bob’s drawings and offered to help find a better path forward. Instead of taking them, he proposed a partnership — and RP Watkins was born.

Since then, we’ve worked to keep Bob’s original intent intact: a single-piece, cold-formed galvanized hanger that’s engineered for strength, simplicity, and dependable bearing. We modernized manufacturing, shortened lead times, and expanded distribution so builders and architects across the U.S. can specify and receive the product quickly and reliably.

Today RP Watkins combines decades of field experience with modern production and documentation. We support project teams with cut sheets, CAD/BIM files, and installation guides — all to make specifying and installing the Original Watkins Hanger as straightforward as possible. Our goal is the same as Bob’s: give builders a strong, economical solution that saves time and reduces risk on every ICF job.