At Simpson Strong-Tie, Risk-Taking Innovation is central to our mission of helping people design and build safer, stronger structures. We’ve devoted a tremendous amount of effort and resources to thoughtfully cultivating a culture of innovation. And as Engineers, we’ve been armed...

Mass timber buildings use cross-laminated timber (CLT) or mass plywood panels to create horizontal diaphragms to transfer wind and seismic forces into the vertical elements of the lateral-force-resisting system. Spline connections resist shear forces at the panel joints, which I discussed in...

In my previous article, The Evolution of Glued Trussed Joists, in the August 2021 issue, I explain that glued trusses have potential in floors. The new G-joist has high resistance. The chord shear failure is eliminated as the web finger punches the chord. The web-chord glue area is big. The mean...

The first thing to consider with bearing sizes is the minimum required by the building codes. Per 2018 IRC, International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Sec. R802.6 – When a ceiling joist is supported directly on wood or metal, the minimum bearing size required is...

With the recent introduction of our new LSSR rafter hangers for 2x lumber, we thought we’d provide some background on how these new hangers were developed and why. Field-adjustable sloped and skewed hangers allow designers to specify widely available, economical connection solutions....

I-joists dominate the joist market due to their high material efficiency and low manufacturing cost. However, this product has disadvantages, including difficulty in HVAC installations and the possibility of bottom chord support only. Therefore, the market would pay a considerable premium for a...

While stick-frame roofs are sometimes preferred to premanufactured roof trusses in some areas of the country because they can accommodate larger attics, higher ceilings, and complex roof shapes, the code requirements for these roofs are often more complex. That’s largely because, unlike...

While admiring a Mass Timber building rising nearby, I wanted to find out if CMs can benefit from this business. Katerra apparently thinks so, first becoming a CM and later a CLT manufacturer. So far, the supply of CLT is limited – the Katerra plant is 2500 miles from this Virginia jobsite...

According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “The only constant in life is change.” When the latest Wood Construction Connectors catalog (C-C-2019) was published, my colleague, Paul McEntee, PE authored an excellent blog post to announce some big changes within the catalog. He...

It would be a lot simpler for designing engineers if structural connections were always for members at right angles to one another. Often, connections have to be designed for supported members that are at a skewed or sloped angle rather than perpendicular to the header. In these cases, the...