Specific gravity (G) is a measure of wood density affected by the specific species or species combination of the commercial grade, growth region, and grading rules. It is the single most important lumber property for the strength of mechanical fasteners, such as nails and screws used in...

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” – Ralph Nichols, American psychologist and communication theorist, often referred to as the “Father of...

As North America’s largest lumber manufacturer, West Fraser supplies the truss market with mechanically graded lumber, dimension lumber, and premium products such as Prime, Select Structural, and HiLine. Founded nearly seven decades ago West Fraser began operations in 1955 when...

Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to register for MSRLPC’s annual MSR Workshop! Join attendees from across North America as they convene on April 17 in beautiful downtown Charlotte, NC, for three days of valuable learning and networking opportunities with an incredible...

MSR Lumber has a long history of being the right choice for component manufacturers. This reliable and consistent lumber grading system revolutionized the construction industry when it was introduced to the market in the 1960s, and it continues to be a mainstay for truss producers decades...

One of the first mixed-use designs I worked on as a consulting structural engineer was a four-story wood-frame building over two levels of parking. Designing the main lateral-force-resisting system with plywood shearwalls was a challenge for this project that required new details to meet the...

The MSR Lumber Producer Council’s new Design Values Comparison Tool makes it possible for component manufacturers and other lumber buyers to easily build a comparison table based on species, size, and grade that includes design values for both visually graded and machine-graded dimensional...

Timber Products Inspection has compiled design value comparison tables for several popular species and species groups as a helpful tool for truss manufacturers to determine if a lumber grade and/or lumber species substitution satisfies the original truss design. The data used comes from the 2018...

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....

In our October article, Because Good Ingredients Matter, we focus on the word quality and the many ways that MSR lumber has become synonymous with high quality structural building components. Having laid the groundwork for why MSR has become so important for optimizing truss designs and an...