How the Government Encouraged Prefabrication and Panelization in the 1930s and 1940s

Joe Kannapell, PE

Wall panels gradually insinuated themselves into the minds of homebuilders throughout the 1930s, helped greatly by government actions. As these builders were unable to sell their custom models during the Great Depression, a few of them experimented with lower-cost construction methods. The...

How Wood Trusses Supported the War Effort and Helped Expand the Components Industry

Joe Kannapell, PE

For most of the 20th century, engineers did not study nor would they normally specify wood trusses. Wood was thought to be suitable only for houses and barns, so steel was the material of choice – except when there wasn’t enough steel. That was the situation the Army Corps of...

I-Joists or Floor Trusses? Ask a Framer

Joe Kannapell, PE

Have you asked a framer lately what floor system they prefer? I did, after seeing a crew I’ve watched use I-joists for the last couple of years now switch to floor trusses. But I wondered why they did so only on town houses. Here’s what I observed: December 12, 2023 –...