Bracing & Restraint

Brace Yourself!

Thank you to everyone who took time to comment on the new look and feel of the January/February issue of SBC Magazine.

Heel Blocking Requirements and Capacity Analysis - Educational Program

This presentation provides information on heel blocking requirements and related analysis.

Special Floor Loading Considerations in Typical Residential Construction

This report will explore some special floor loading issues that are not specifically mentioned in the building codes and require special attention to ensure that the floor system is properly designed with no serviceability issues. The following are the major issues that will be discussed: stone/ceramic tiles, large concentrated loads and floor vibrations.

Conventionally Framed Roofs & Roof Trusses: Code-Compliant Construction

This Research Report reviews pertinent sections of the 2006, 2009 and 2012 International Residential Code (IRC), the 2012 IRC Commentary, and additional sources in an effort to compile the related data and identify discrepancies or omissions. The focus is catered toward meeting and better understanding the requirements for conventionally framed roofs and roof truss construction per IRC Section R802. 

Truss Industry Standard of Care: Part 5

Editor’s Note: The purpose of this article series is to identify truss-related structural issues sometimes missed due to the day-in and day-out demands of truss design/production and the fragmented building design review and approval process. This series will explore issues in the building market that are not normally focused upon, and provide recommended best-practice guidance.

Truss Blocking Panels

Learn more about a future industry testing concept for the SBC Research Institute.

Overcoming Truss Installation Obstacles

  • Today’s complex truss designs can present significant installation challenges to framers if there isn’t good communication between the framer and the manufacturer.
  • From storage and lifting pick points to critical bearing conditions, safe handling and installation practices need to be effectively communicated to installers.
  • During the design phase, manufacturers can help ensure smooth installation by considering the framing challenges a complex design may create and facilitate cross communication between parties.

Become the “Go-To” Person in Your Market

  • Component manufacturers have to be proactive locally in pursuing those outside the industry, including building officials, members of the fire service, specifiers, framers and lawmakers.
  • It’s not hard to put a value on having eyes and ears like theirs in the market, when they are willing to look out for your business while they’re doing their jobs.
  • The more smoothly the installation of CM products goes, the less issues we have to confront in the field and the less we have to overcome challenging building code provisions, the more builders will want to buy and install our products.

Bracing Options for Webs Revisited

  • The following Technical Q&A has been updated from the version that appeared in the 2006 June/July issue of SBC.  
  • Lateral restraints are installed to reduce the buckling length of the web(s), but must be restrained laterally to prevent the webs to which they are attached from buckling together in the same direction.
  • BCSI-B3, Permanent Restraint/Bracing of Chords and Web Members, provides general industry recommendations and methods for restraining web members against buckling.

Parting Shots

A few years ago, Lumber Specialties, a component manufacturer in Dyersville, IA, wanted a way to show proper bracing in a residential home. They asked Jason Gross, an intern in their design department at that time, to build an exact scale model of a roof truss system to accurately show diagonal bracing, lateral restraint, and T-bracing per BCSI.