Design Connections: My Letter to Santa for 2024 Geordie Secord As this issue of The Advertiser is being published December 1st, I thought I would share my wish list for truss and component manufacturers this year. Feel free to use this in your letter to Santa, too! Dear Santa, I promise I tried to be a good component designer this past year. My... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 88
Installation Tolerances MiTek Staff Oftentimes, MiTek engineers are getting requests for repairs of trusses installed out of plumb. This is a common installation issue and has some allowable tolerances. Tolerance is critical for both a good roofline and effective bracing. Exceeded erection tolerance can cause overloading,... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 97
Information Needed to Provide Efficient Truss Design Repairs MiTek Staff Metal plate connected roof and floor trusses are used widely in residential single family, multi- family, commercial, and agricultural construction. They provide design flexibility, span greater distances than traditional “stick framing,” and allow faster erection of the roof system... Read More November 2023 Issue #15292 Page 97
Wood Member-To-Wood Member Gaps MiTek Staff MiTek engineers are often asked what maximum gaps are allowed for wood member-to-wood member in metal-plate-connected wood trusses. Gaps between wood members are addressed in Chapter 3 Quality Criteria for the Manufacture of Metal-Plate-Connected Wood Trusses of the ANSI/TPI 1-2014 (National... Read More October 2023 Issue #15291 Page 113
Top Five Most Downloaded Engineering Letters Simpson Strong-Tie Staff Prior to joining Simpson Strong-Tie, I spent 13 years working as consulting structural engineer. As a specifier, I was amazed at the number of resources Simpson made available to me. From software, to blogs, to design guides, there were many resources to help me solve problems and streamline the... Read More October 2023 Issue #15291 Page 114
Job Site Success Begins with Good Communication Landon Boucher My favorite place to meet with a customer is on the job site. Always has been. I started in this industry approximately 20 years ago as a young truss salesman for UFP in Southern California. My training consisted of building trusses in the yard, creating estimates, and completing engineering... Read More September 2023 Issue #15290 Page 86
“Person Loading” of Chords Without Structural Wood Sheathing Frank Woeste The National Design Standard for Metal Plate Connected Wood Truss Construction, ANSI/TPI 1-2022 has been updated to require a design load check that accounts for a Person Loading of a roof truss chord without structural wood sheathing. As discussed in the ANSI/TPI 1 Commentary, this loading... Read More September 2023 Issue #15290 Page 94
From CEO to Legacy: Welcome to the Karen Colonias Research Lab David Huerta As the current lab manager of the newly renamed Karen Colonias Research Laboratory, I’m proud to share what our lab does and what Karen meant to us. Our lab is responsible for testing new and existing connector, fastener and Truss plate products in support of our product development... Read More September 2023 Issue #15290 Page 108
Flat Top Chord Bracing MiTek Staff Top chords are usually braced by roof sheathing. Roof sheathing provides effective lateral bracing when nailed directly to the top chord. In cases where roof sheathing cannot be directly applied to the top chord, purlins are used to prevent lateral buckling of truss top chords. The Truss... Read More August 2023 Issue #15289 Page 96
Ground Snow vs. Flat Roof Snow MiTek Staff MiTek Engineering software gives you two options to input snow load – Ground Snow and Roof Snow (flat roof snow). What is the difference between ground snow and flat roof snow? Ground snow load, pg, is obtained directly from the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard (ASCE 7)... Read More July 2023 Issue #15288 Page 96