Design Connections: The Designer Shortage—Where Can We Find Them Geordie Secord A challenge for the component industry is brewing no matter if you are located in an area where new home construction continues to be strong or your market is slowed by the combined effects of high interest rates and stubbornly high inflation. Be it single family or multi-family, new designers... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 78
Glued Roof Trusses Tuomo Poutanen In my previous article, The Evolution of Glued Trussed Joists, in the August 2021 issue, I explain that glued trusses have potential in floors. The new G-joist has high resistance. The chord shear failure is eliminated as the web finger punches the chord. The web-chord glue area is big. The mean... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 94
Bracing on Truss Design Drawings MiTek Staff Trusses are designed as individual components to resist the in-plane stresses resulting from the loads applied in the same in-plane direction. To resist out of plane forces, adequate bracing/restraint is required. In absence of designed temporary and permanent bracing plans, BCSI (Building... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 104
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part VIII: Patent Skirmishes Joe Kannapell As builders began demanding Gang-Nailed trusses, imitators answered their call with little concern for violating Cal Jureit’s patent. Even though his claims were technical triumphs, vetted by D.C. patent experts, they were quickly contested by two now-familiar figures, Bill Black and... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 10
Design Connections: Is There Ever Just One Right Way? Geordie Secord If you have spent your truss career in one region, and even more so with just one company, you will have seen that, generally speaking, your competitors and co-workers tend to frame houses essentially the same way. Only when you are exposed to a different company or region do you start to see... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 80
Truss Plates and Nail Inventions from Finland Tuomo Poutanen In his series on The Development of the Truss Plate, Joe Kannapell is recounting many interesting details on the evolution of truss plates in the U.S. For another perspective, this article will focus on eight relevant nail plate truss inventions from Finland —two made by Matti Turulin, two... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 86
Reviewing 2021 IBC Changes for Cold-Formed Steel Light-Frame Design Jeff Ellis “Change is the only constant in life” and “When you are finished changing, you are finished” are quotes from the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus and Benjamin Franklin, respectively. I’m reminded of them as I review the numerous changes to codes and standards... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 100
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part VII: Contentious Competition Joe Kannapell The plated truss industry went bonkers around 1961. Truss fabricators were besieging suppliers for product and were willing to try nearly any plate or machine. Plate suppliers had to conform to the new testing and QC required by TPI-60, but machinery vendors had no guidelines beyond satisfying... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 10
Design Connections: Building Information Modeling for the Component Business? Geordie Secord If I compare the truss layout and design software used in the early 1980s to what is available today, it’s mind boggling. Actually, comparing layout software wouldn’t be possible since the first layout software at our company didn’t show up until around 1989! Up to that point,... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 84
Effects of Ripping Structural Truss Lumber MiTek Staff How does ripping lumber, cutting a board along its length, affect its grade or strength values? Structural lumber is graded or inspected which provides designers, through the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction, the strength/design values for the lumber members.... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 112