How Smooth are Your Splices? Glenn Traylor Quality trusses with smooth splices help ensure quality ceilings and floor finishes, but several factors may affect their execution. It’s generally understood by most truss builders that, while creating chord splices on any truss, it’s important to maintain a flush plane surface... Read More November 2019 Issue #11244 Page 38
You speak, Vekta listens. Ed Serrano An 8-bunk PackFeeder that takes up virtually NO extra space! Few people likely realize that many, actually most, of Vekta’s great ideas and innovations originated with our customers. At the BCMC in Columbus, Ohio, Vekta’s MD Ed Serrano was chatting with a long-standing Vekta... Read More November 2019 Issue #11244 Page 58
Lumber Briefs: What To Do When Supply is At Odds With Demand Matt Layman Our lumber market is notorious for over and under producing its products. The relationship between supply and demand is constantly in flux. When producers make decisions to increase supply, it is in response to a relatively long term period of increased prices where there is the perception of a... Read More November 2019 Issue #11244 Page 96
Lumber Briefs: Lumber & Housing Market Forecast Matt Layman Housing is Over Built; Lumber is the Honey Hole Most of the time, the daily news and world events do not have a significant impact on how we buy and sell lumber. This recent stuff is different. It’s scary. All the trade and economic balls are in the air, and politically the U.S. is... Read More September 2019 Issue #11242 Page 94
Does the Manufacturing Facility’s Environment Affect Quality? Glenn Traylor Can quality be determined by examining the environment of the facility manufacturing the product? It seems like the two are unrelated, but, after evaluating hundreds of facilities, quality seems to be proportional to the environment of the manufacturing. By this, I’m not saying that brand... Read More August 2019 Issue #11241 Page 34
Lumber Briefs: Housing’s Dilemma...No More Capacity Matt Layman More housing data is rolling in and it is not looking good...but it is 30 days old. Therefore, I am looking for 2-month trends. Existing Home Sales declined on rising prices, expanding inventory to 4.5 months...about average...not a shortage. New Home Sales increased as did prices,... Read More August 2019 Issue #11241 Page 84
Compression or Tension Web Configuration—Which is Better? Glenn Traylor On a recent Quality Assurance Audit at a large facility, we witnessed a floor truss builder carefully spacing out his floor truss webs in the allotted space available with precision and care. He was very meticulous. I asked him why he was doing that and he explained that his in-house inspector... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 32
Lumber Briefs: Lumber & Housing Market Forecast Matt Layman Eurowood and SYP…the Future! It’s times like the last couple of weeks in SPF-W, when buyers get taken by surprise, and they have one question for sellers. “How you gonna help me?” Two weeks ago, I warned that SPF mills were about to spring surprise, imminent... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240
AWC Joins Second Year of Timber-Strong Design Build Competition Robert Glowinski Eighteen teams from colleges throughout the Southwest United States and Hawaii gained hands-on experience in wood design and construction during the second annual Timber-Strong Design Build competition. AWC joined APA–The Engineered Wood Products Association (APA) and Simpson Strong-Tie... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 82
Lumber Procurement Professional vs. Lumber Buyer Marc Ross Undoubtedly, many people are now thinking: Is there a difference between a lumber procurement professional and a lumber buyer? I am a Lumber Procurement Professional. I’ve been around the business since I was 15 years old and now I’m 64 (you can do the math). I have worked as a buyer... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 84