All Things Wood: The Enduring Problem of Truss Partition Separation Frank Woeste For more than 40 years, truss partition separation, often loosely referred to as “truss uplift,” has been a practical (and annoying) issue for homeowners and homebuilders. While it was first investigated at the field level and researched in the laboratory in the 1970s, an October... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 78
Lumber Briefs: Lumber Market Forecast Matt Layman 2020 Hindsight 2020 hindsight. Deduce deeper. Look farther than the end of my nose and keep asking, “What’s next?” I didn’t do that at the beginning of the pandemic. I failed to consider how men specifically would respond to the lockdown. I saw hangout at home, catch... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 94
Premium Defined Mike Wisnefski The American Lumber Standard first published a standard for lumber in 1924 which delineated lumber sizes and assigned design value methods, classification, inspection procedures, the National Grading Rule, an accreditation program, and other specified functions. It was the first foray into such... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 102
Polls Done 13 Months Apart Show Covid Is Nudging Builders Toward Off-Site Construction Craig Webb Like scientists tracking a slow-moving glacier, a leading pollster of America’s builders is seeing signs that contractors’ views are warming when it comes to off-site construction. The research by Ed Hudson, director of market research at the Home Innovation Research Labs,... Read More November 2020 Issue #12256 Page 114
Are Your Deliveries Making the Right Impression? Glenn Traylor So you won the order. Congratulations. The designs and the submittals were approved. Sounds great. The trusses were built with care and meet all of the necessary requirements. Awesome! Does it stop here? No, not really. The customer has not had a chance to really get a rock-solid impression.... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 35
Going Off the Rails (and Rollers) with Vekta Ed Serrano Vekta is probably best known for our Razer linear saw, and the next product most associated with our company is the Vekta PackFeeder, a lumber infeed system that takes up less space and costs less than anything else on the market. But... Did you know that Vekta has a variety of products designed... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 62
Looking to the Future After 10 Years as an Independent Trade Association Jackson Morrill Earlier this year, the American Wood Council (AWC) marked its 10th year as an independent trade association. Over this time, AWC has been guided by President & CEO Robert Glowinski, who is retiring at the end of the year. In mid-September, I had the privilege of taking the helm as... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 110
Lumber Briefs: Attitude Your Way Through Matt Layman When flipping around in trading ranges in the $300s, planning for the coming year had some sort of definable “worst case scenario” contingency plan. I’m just curious. How do you plan for next year, staring down the barrel of all-time high lumber prices and short supply? That... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 112
Why Is Our Industry So Afraid of Change? Ashley Boeckholt If we have learned anything from 2020, we must understand that change is the only thing we can rely upon, and by using yesterday’s logic to deal with tomorrow’s challenges, we will hit a proverbial wall. History teaches us that the future success of a business directly relates to its... Read More October 2020 Issue #12255 Page 114
Are Your Trucks Loaded Correctly? Glenn Traylor Recently while traveling, I photographed a load of structural components being delivered to a jobsite. It was a little of a double-take to comprehend what was on the truck, because our products really shouldn’t be that curved when they’re designed to be flat. As shown in the photo... Read More September 2020 Issue #12254 Page 35