Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 1999 04:59am | #1

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   Jay.....Sounds like a good idea to me, but will they weather? If you could get them made out of walmonized material, I would go for that.

   Ed. Williams

2. 
   Chris_Johnson | Jun 18, 1999 06:42am | #2

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   You should really look into using a steel I-beam.They are about half the cost of engineered lumber and the girders will not have to as thick. For example: if you wanted to span 24 feet with a secondary load with no support posts you could use a 10 inch by 6 I-beam at a cost of 250.00 or three 14 inch lams sandwiched together at a cost of about 475.00. I don't think your chance for rot will be as high with steel as with lams,don't you think?

3. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 1999 06:55am | #3

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   Jay,

   We used pressure treated paralams for a job about 6 years ago, they are holding up wonderfully! I also have used steel, but alas, it's only as good as it's sacrificial coating.

   Jon

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 1999 03:30pm | #4

   *Jon is right on about pressure treated paralams - they're probably the best solution if you don't want to use steel. LVL beams (Microlam is actually a brand of LVL, just like kleenex is a brand of tissue)aren't made to be exposed to weather. They swell and shrink a great deal, and will eventually delaminate.

4. 
   Jay_Orth | Jun 23, 1999 06:08pm | #5

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   Thanks for the help! I am currently pricing up the treated paralams and finding out about thier availability. I found the company that manufactures the micro-lams and paralams very helpful. Thanks again!

5. 
   Jay_Orth | Jun 23, 1999 06:08pm | #6

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   I'm in need of some professional guidence on the prospect of using micro-lam girders for a deck here in the northeast. I have a rather large deck with multiple levels to build and would like to cut down on the number of support piers. However I haven't heard of any one using micro-lams in this particular application. I would also like to know if anyone has any suggestions about max spans.