Post Frame at a Crossroads—Is This the 11th Hour for the Industry? Sharon Thatcher For several years, there has been a foreboding trend in the post-frame industry: the disappearance of post-frame engineers. At once a strong coalition of devoted proponents who worked diligently on both personal and professional time to promote the industry through research, education and... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 56
The Hiring Zone: Opportunity Knocks Just a couple of years ago, I went back to the commercial modular/classroom/mobile office plant where I had my first GM job in the ’80s. I was 27 then, am much older now, but one thing hasn’t changed much, technology. The stations had the same kind of equipment, home build when... Read More July 2019 Issue #11240 Page 80
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation, Part XI Joe Kannapell, PE Part XI: A Whole House in the New Millennium We truss designers were outfoxed by an unlikely pair of moguls who knew nothing about truss design. Gene Toombs and Tom Denig, CEOs of MiTek and TrusJoist, without our prompting, announced in 2001 that their companies would join forces to design... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 8
Do Connectors on Both Sides of a Truss Ever Need to be Placed Exactly? Glenn Traylor Once in a while, I’m asked—Is there ever an occasion when connectors on both sides of the truss need exact placement? Well, the answer might surprise you. There are, in fact, several situations where the top face connector and the bottom face connector need to be exactly... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 38
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
Questions Answered: Strong-Wall® Site-Built Portal Frame System Simpson Strong-Tie Staff In this article, we follow up on our April 17 webinar, Meeting Braced-Wall Requirements: A New Portal Frame Solution, by answering some of the interesting questions raised by attendees. During the webinar, we discussed how the Strong-Wall site-built portal frame system (PFS) provides... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 98
The Last Word: I-Joists vs. Floor Trusses Joe Kannapell, PE The advantages of open-web floor trusses are beginning to decelerate the growth of EWP. Though I-Joist sales per housing start have increased about 6% over the last two years, the trend has slowed considerably. Some of the small gain is due to the continuation of the replacement of solid-sawn... Read More June 2019 Issue #11239 Page 113
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation, Part X Joe Kannapell, PE Part X: Windows Works Its Magic When David McQuinn recommended Windows to MiTek’s management in 1990, few expected that Microsoft could compete with the two giants of the computer industry: Hewlett Packard and IBM. HP was the dominant provider of engineering computers. For a decade, its... Read More May 2019 Issue #11238 Page 8
AWC Celebrates Building Safety Month Robert Glowinski With environmental sustainability becoming the focal point of national discourse, and extreme weather intensifying and occurring more frequently, our buildings need to be sustainable and resilient to mitigate damage to both the built environment and surrounding ecosystem. Researchers are... Read More May 2019 Issue #11238 Page 76
Building Connections: Getting Social with Simpson Strong-Tie Simpson Strong-Tie Staff Simpson Strong-Tie was built on the idea of making strong connections. That concept extends beyond our structural innovations for raising or supporting strong, resilient buildings and communities. We use social media and our two company blogs to have conversations, not only about our products... Read More May 2019 Issue #11238 Page 90