Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part V: Early Truss Connection Innovators

Joe Kannapell, PE

Three midcentury forces converged to form the truss business we know today. First came the deluge of demand for affordable housing after World War II. Then came the prefabbers who addressed that need with trusses. And finally came the connector that made trusses into a blockbuster...

#17310 Cover image
May 2025
Issue #17310
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: No Better Job, No Better Industry

Joe Kannapell, PE

We are fortunate to work in this great industry and to have many ways to give back to our communities. We were given a reminder of that on April 8, 2025, at a very important dedication. We felt the excitement as we entered the crowded shell of what will become the Langetree Community Center...

#17310 Cover image
May 2025
Issue #17310
Page 176
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part IV: The $6,000 Question

Joe Kannapell, PE

Unions opposed it, builders dismissed it, but the American homebuyer would embrace prefabricated housing as soon as they could afford it. Despite fierce opposition, the government made it a reality by allowing FHA financing on prefabricated homes with loans of $6,000 or less. In announcing this...

#17309 Cover image
April 2025
Issue #17309
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Material Handling, Saw to Table

Joe Kannapell, PE

What’s inside your home today, and what will be on top of your house in the future, was or will have been handled by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). These are the small under-riding robots that carry all sorts of items from point A to B in plants or warehouses, eliminating manual...

#17309 Cover image
April 2025
Issue #17309
Page 176
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part III: Overcoming the Prefab Stigma

Joe Kannapell, PE

Even though 500,000 prefab homes were built for World War II, builders were not committed to the prefabrication approach. But why not? These homes should have served as an entré to the future use of components by the hundreds of builders who constructed government housing in hundreds of...

#17308 Cover image
March 2025
Issue #17308
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Home Depot’s Quest for the Pro Builder

Joe Kannapell, PE

A contract hauler drives in on a six-lane roadway, stops at predetermined locations, receives a full load of lumber and building supplies, and then heads out to a nearby jobsite. That driver has just passed through a warehouse that mimics the efficiency and abundant stocks of an Amazon.com...

#17308 Cover image
March 2025
Issue #17308
Page 180
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part II: Mass Production Technology

Joe Kannapell, PE

While Sears had stolen the spotlight on precut technology, their lesser-known rival, Aladdin Homes, helped usher in prefabrication, but not initially. For many years, Aladdin fought the concept of pre-assembling parts of homes in their factory, asserting that their precut packages took...

#17307 Cover image
February 2025
Issue #17307
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Building Companies and Building Teams

Joe Kannapell, PE

As discussed in this issue’s article, Growth and Accolades for Component Manufacturing,” Carolina Structural Systems (CSS) has been celebrated for its latest expansion plans in Virginia. As announced, CSS is investing at least $5.5 million to establish a new manufacturing...

#17307 Cover image
February 2025
Issue #17307
Page 170
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part I: Wall Panel Beginnings

Joe Kannapell, PE

As we start 2025, we have surpassed the 125th year of offsite wall technology, so it seems fitting to return to the beginning and describe its early progression. Surprisingly, this includes the Ready-Frame® technology that is currently being marketed by Builders FirstSource, as well as the...

#17306 Cover image
January 2025
Issue #17306
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Rural Cousins in the Truss Business — The Last Chapter

Joe Kannapell, PE

In 1990, when Dickie Vail traveled from his shuttered Virginia plant to his job interview in Burlington, NC, he didn’t have much going for him. He was 35 and broke, and he was meeting Carroll Shoffner, a 57-year-old mega-millionaire who owned over a dozen highly efficient truss plants....

#17306 Cover image
January 2025
Issue #17306
Page 172
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