Adjustable Hanger or Custom Hanger — You Make the Call Randy Shackelford It would be a lot simpler for designing engineers if structural connections were always for members at right angles to one another. Often, connections have to be designed for supported members that are at a skewed or sloped angle rather than perpendicular to the header. In these cases, the... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 104
Why a Structural Boundary Member Between a Truss/Rafter is Not Optional Paul McEntee Blocking or boundary member? In my experience traveling across the country observing wood-framed construction, it was apparent that east of the Rocky Mountains, structural wood members in-line with supporting walls between roof framing cease to be installed. Some may call these wood members... Read More October 2019 Issue #11243 Page 106
All Things Wood: IBC Balcony Changes Spur “Best Practice” Design Recommendations Frank Woeste Because of their limited structural redundancy and exposure to weather, cantilevered balconies require special attention by design professionals, contractors, permitting and inspection departments, and owners in-service. As shown in the photos, modern wood-framed, multi-family projects often... Read More April 2019 Issue #11237 Page 60
Choosing Resiliency: Lessons from Hurricane Michael Doug Allen Doug Allen, P.E., a structural engineer with Simpson Strong-Tie, looks at the choice homeowners in disaster-prone areas face between simply building to code and building to standards of resilience or IBHS FORTIFIED Home™ standards instead. Resilience, or resiliency: The capacity to... Read More April 2019 Issue #11237 Page 90
Code Report: Understanding Allowable Load Changes Paul McEntee 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... Read More March 2019 Issue #11236 Page 90
Are Roof and Floor Trusses the Only Components that Need a Quality Assurance Program? Glenn Traylor Roof and floor trusses are important components that need special consideration to insure their correct manufacture. Components built to the IRC and IBC require the manufacturer to adhere to specific requirements. These requirements provide a blueprint to facilitate the manufacturing of a... Read More November 2018 Issue #10232 Page 31
Questions Answered: Resisting Uplift with Structural Fasteners Bryan Wert Of course you know about creating a continuous load path with either connectors or rod tiedown systems, but have you considered using fasteners instead? In this article, Bryan Wert follows up on our May 2 webinar, Drive a New Path: Resisting Uplift with Structural Fasteners, by answering some of... Read More July 2018 Issue #10228 Page 96
How to Safely Select Nail Substitutions for Connectors Paul McEntee A few days ago, I was speaking to a customer about an application using alternate fasteners for a joist hanger installation. Her questions come up often, so I thought I would dedicate a post to some of the resources available that cover the use of different nails in connectors. Designers and... Read More June 2018 Issue #10227 Page 102
Multi-Ply Beam Load Transfer Paul McEntee Larger beams are often built up out of smaller 2x or 1¾” members. This can be done for several different reasons: for the convenience of handling smaller members on the jobsite, or because solid 4x, 6x or glulam material is not readily available, or for reasons of cost. Engineered... Read More April 2018 Issue #10225 Page 98
The Never-Ending Search for Truss Repair Information Kelly Sias Truss repair is one of the most frequently asked about truss topics. Not surprisingly, when we asked for suggested truss topics in a truss blog, truss repair made the list. Because the summer months bring about a peak in new construction – and plenty of truss repairs to go along with it... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 84