Market Education

Remedy For Bouncy Floor Trusses

Question: 

We are experiencing problems with bouncy wood floor trusses. I'm wondering what the industry standard is on deflections (live and total load). Also, do you have any ideas on how to decrease the deflection without affecting the profit margin significantly?

Sloping Floors

Question: 

In our one-year-old home, as you approach the hallway, the floor slopes downward. Our home inspector said that this was most likely due to the fact that the walls were resting on the floor as opposed to being load-bearing walls. What has been your experience with sloping floors in a new home? The floors are very flat elsewhere until the walls start. Do you think this sloping could turn into a structural problem eventually?

Anti Trust Agreements

Question: 

I am looking for a set of guidelines or “rules” for members of the SBCA. Are truss plants really not allowed to speak of business matters? I think that is unfair. I'm not going to call up our competitor and tell them that they aren't charging enough and taking all the business. I just want all the truss plants in my area to get together and decide how we are going to do business. We need to standardize the industry.

Changes In Roof Pitch

Question: 

We are changing plans from a two story home to a one story home. The original roof pitch is 12/12 with three dormer windows, one large one in the center and a smaller one on either side. Can you tell us what pitch would be advisable under this new plan still using the dormers?

Partition Separation

Question: 

I installed roof trusses in my house and dry walled the ceiling to the bottom of the trusses. Now I seem to have a problem with the change of the seasons. Where the ceiling meets the interior wall, a gap opens and closes – in winter it opens, in summer it closes. What did I do wrong, how can I correct it and how should the drywall be installed in the first place?

Why Market Now?

In many areas of the country, business is thriving. CMs have all the work their crews and plants can handle without drumming up new sales or making new connections in their marketplaces. Jess Lohse—president of Rocky Mountain Truss and 2015 president of SBCA—and Jason Blenker—president of Blenker Building Systems—say today’s boom is a perfect time to market components. 

Well Worth the Effort

Big C Lumber shared a lot with their guests and learned a lot as hosts. They offer a few tips for CMs looking to hold their own event. 

We Are All in This Together!

How one CM introduces building officials to the entire scope of work that goes into truss manufacturing. 

 

Labor Pains

“All the builders and framers I talk to out there say the same thing: they can’t find enough guys to do what they want to do.” Those are the thoughts of Jason Blenker, president of Blenker Building Systems. If national surveys and media reports are accurate, the sentiment is shared by most of the construction industry across the country.

Parting Shots

In 2001, WoodWords (later renamed SBC Magazine) began dedicating its June/July issue to a summary of the industry’s concerns and the activities of SBCA’s annual legislative conference. That tradition continued through 2014.