Spring is upon us. Construction is ramping up nationwide. And, as we get ready to spend more time in our favorite outdoor spaces and decks, we must ensure they are safe for gatherings with family and friends. Just in time for the nicer weather, and the influx of construction workers, the...

The Simpson Strong-Tie® 2019–2020 Wood Construction Connectors catalog is the first in the industry with updated connector allowable load tables to meet the new ASTM test standards required by the 2015 and 2018 International Building Code® (IBC®). It is designed to...

In this article, Paul McEntee follows up on our July 25 webinar, Making Wood Connections Work for Two-Hour Fire Walls, by answering some of the interesting questions raised by attendees. We presented an hour-long webinar recently about using fire wall hangers in Type III wood-frame buildings,...

Over the period of nine days starting on June 9, 2017, five deck collapses in five states (MT, VA, OH. MI, and WI) were reported in the news media. Using the injury data from the media, the five collapses resulted in a total of 57 injuries. In one case, WAVY.com reported that, after an...

A quick glance through the Simpson Strong-Tie® Wood Construction Connectors catalog shows that we manufacture at least 29 different models of face-mount wood-to-wood joist hangers, three separate models of face-mount wood-to-masonry hangers, 42 different models of top-flange wood-to-wood...

The winter season is upon us, and families across the country are decorating their homes for holiday festivities. Unfortunately, this time of year is also marked by an increase in fires – with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reporting the highest occurrence of candle and...

Home buyers naturally take for granted that the floor system in a new house is safe and complies with the building code—and rightly so. But home buyers also have expectations for their floors that are unrelated to safety or the building code. In particular, many home buyers are aware of...