The Last Word: (Another) Last Word on Southern Pine Joe Kannapell Despite our reservations about Southern Pine lumber, the timber industry is betting billions that we’ll buy it. Soon the output of SYP mills will race past other domestic species. Fortunately, technological improvements, both at the saw mill and in our component plants, aim to overcome our... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 109
Lumber Briefs: A Fragile Housing Recovery Built on Credit Matt Layman Many Americans are not overzealous about the moderate improvements to their lifestyle, income, and overall state of wellbeing during this economic recovery. That is being expressed by the stock market’s decline and increased recession rhetoric. No in-depth statistical analysis is needed... Read More November 2018 Issue #10232 Page 78
All Things Wood: Truss Lumber: Checking the Moisture Content Frank Woeste The lack of attention to the moisture content (MC) of lumber used in truss manufacturing can cause or contribute to in-service performance issues. Mr. Glenn Traylor’s fine article in the September issue of The Advertiser, “Does Your Lumber Have a Shelf Life?”, was greatly... Read More October 2018 Issue #10231 Page 80
Does Your Lumber Have a Shelf Life? Glenn Traylor Just like some foods, lumber kept in the right environment will store for an indefinite length of time. But just like food, lumber kept in sub-par conditions will have a shortened storage period. If you’re not storing your lumber properly, you may have to question whether it can/should... Read More September 2018 Issue #10230 Page 32
The Last Word: The Last Word on Spruce vs. Southern Pine Joe Kannapell Now is the time to consider Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) as a substitute for Southern Pine (SP). As noted below, #2 SPF’s 19% higher bending value and only 10% lower compression value usually enables longer spans. Cull rates are generally lower with SPF, and it is lighter and easier to... Read More July 2018 Issue #10228 Page 109
The Last Word: SYP Grades Component Manufacturers are Buying Joe Kannapell What better way to assess buying trends than to recap the lumber specified on truss designs? The following charts illustrate the material derived from 80,000 truss drawings totaling 12.8 Million Board Feet of wood. Not surprisingly, more than half the total volume is consumed by visually graded... Read More June 2018 Issue #10227 Page 111
Lumber Briefs: Trucking Shortage: Lumber’s Summer Nightmare Matt Layman We lumber types have come to expect the unexpected. Hence, there is great value when we can identify, well in advance, what the next price manipulating phenomenon might be. 2018 has been a year of looking for an elusive lumber market top. Early in the year I went so far as to call 2018 a bear... Read More May 2018 Issue #10226 Page 77
The Last Word: The Last Word on Southern Pine Lumber Joe Kannapell Southern Pine grading greatly complicates the task of making lumber substitutions. The progression of the structural values of Machine Evaluated Lumber (MEL) is nothing like the progression of values of either Visually Graded or Machine Stress Rated (MSR) lumber, which both ascend like rungs on... Read More May 2018 Issue #10226 Page 107
All Things Wood: Wood Frame Construction Manual—a Valuable Structural Design Guide Frank Woeste While the International Residential Code (IRC) gives the structural requirements and prescriptive design data for residential framing, additional help for the non-engineer is available through the Wood Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (WFCM) published by the American... Read More January 2018 Issue #10222 Page 73
Lumber Briefs: Hello 2018...The Year of the Bearish Lumber Market Matt Layman This time last year, my message was that 2017 was going to be a year of extreme volatility. To start the year, 2x4 #2 SYP-E was trading for $460. The same product in Canadian SPF-W was $310. SYP was $150 over SPF. By November that relationship had flipped with SYP at $430 and SPF at $490. SYP... Read More January 2018 Issue #10222 Page 79