Joe Kannapell

Floor Truss Technology, Part IX: Floor Finale

Joe Kannapell

To complete this floor series, it’s worth examining how we’re doing against I-joists. [For all graphs and images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.] Mixed Signals: Many CMs think trusses are slowly making gains, and this is backed up by the brisk sales of floor machines. However,...

#16295 Cover image
February 2024
Issue #16295
Page 10
Madison Stephens

AWC Releases New Wood Design Standards

Madison Stephens

The American Wood Council (AWC) released its three new 2024 wood design standards: the National Design Specification® for Wood Construction (NDS®), Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, and Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction (FDS). These...

#16295 Cover image
February 2024
Issue #16295
Page 90
Joe Kannapell

Floor Truss Technology, Part VIII: Inside Floor Truss Details

Joe Kannapell

Builders have been testing the viability of floor trusses, and they are now considering the results. Many of them switched from I-joists only because they were forced to do so. Either they couldn’t get them, or they didn’t want to pay double the price. Yet today, as they are seeing...

#16294 Cover image
January 2024
Issue #16294
Page 10
Joe Kannapell

The Last Word: Two Titans: Denig and Toombs

Joe Kannapell

With the recent passing of Tom Denig, which was not long after Gene Toombs’, we should take a moment to reflect on their stunning success, gained while working separately and together. They both took over highly technical companies in the early 1990s, Denig at Trus Joist and Toombs at...

#15289 Cover image
August 2023
Issue #15289
Page 136
Joe Kannapell

The Last Word: The Rise of the Floor Truss

Joe Kannapell

Among the first advocates for floor trusses were two men who would later create an acclaimed component plant. Dwight Hikel and Chris Ditzel made early inroads at Fort McHenry Lumber, such that Ditzel declared in 1972, “I think we will be eventually doing 2-1/2 times the volume in floor...

#15288 Cover image
July 2023
Issue #15288
Page 132
Michael Weber

How CLT and Mass Timber Technologies May Revolutionize Skyscapes

Michael Weber

Over the last decade — in outlets reaching from construction industry journals to the Boston Globe and the Economist; from CNN and Fast Company to Popular Mechanics; to Nautilus and TED talks — we’ve been hearing increasingly about mass timber and related phenomena:...

#13269 Cover image
December 2021
Issue #13269
Page 112
Matt Layman

Lumber Briefs: The Mess Is Getting Messier As Is the Message

Matt Layman

Panels are the quandary, rather resins and glue. Widespread announcements of further supply disruptions and declarations of Force Majeure are crippling OSB flooring, siding, and roofing panels. I must step in right here to call B.S. Force majeure is a common clause in contracts which...

#13261 Cover image
April 2021
Issue #13261
Page 112
Joe Kannapell

The Last Word: Whole House Builders?

Joe Kannapell

Why aren’t your trussers designing walls and EWP too, as we said they would twenty-five years ago? To pave their way, we would deliver more intelligent (“IntelliBuilt”) and optimized (“OptiFramed”) software, and builders would provide flawless “BIM”...

#11242 Cover image
September 2019
Issue #11242
Page 125
Simpson Strong-Tie Staff

Questions Answered: Strong-Wall® Site-Built Portal Frame System

Simpson Strong-Tie Staff

In this article, we follow up on our April 17 webinar, Meeting Braced-Wall Requirements: A New Portal Frame Solution, by answering some of the interesting questions raised by attendees. During the webinar, we discussed how the Strong-Wall site-built portal frame system (PFS) provides...

#11239 Cover image
June 2019
Issue #11239
Page 98
Joe Kannapell

The Last Word: I-Joists vs. Floor Trusses

Joe Kannapell

The advantages of open-web floor trusses are beginning to decelerate the growth of EWP. Though I-Joist sales per housing start have increased about 6% over the last two years, the trend has slowed considerably. Some of the small gain is due to the continuation of the replacement of solid-sawn...

#11239 Cover image
June 2019
Issue #11239
Page 113
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