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Problem with engineered wood

| Posted in General Discussion on June 13, 2002 04:22am

Last week, I had a bunch of TGI’s and Paralams delivered to my current job site.  They went from Manufacturers warehouse to my supplier to indoors at my project site in one sunny day.

3 of the paralams were 7×91/2 x 20+ feet.  Rented a forklift and genie hoist to unload, move and set them atop the stud walls close to final position.

Client is after a fully engineered floor system.  The beams were for the 2nd floor loft and, so far, the building is as true as I’ve ever been able to put one together.

In trimming and fitting the first 7×91/2 (it fits into a notch) I discovered that it was nearly 1/2″ over size in both directions and, internally, saturated with water.

Called Weyerhaeuser (manufacturer).  Sales guy says, “Well, you should have measured every piece before accepting delivery and, anyway, they will shrink back to size.”

I say, “give me the Tech desk.”  Tech guy says “shrinkage is unpredictable at best and they will only go back 60% of what they’ve swelled.  I wouldn’t use them in my house.”

Epilogue:  Replacement beams (7×91/2, I measured them) were delivered today.  Weyerheauser has agreed to pay replacement labor and rental costs (and the new beams weighed about 60% less).

My point:  I shouldn’t be expected to measure each component delivered to a job site; sales people shouldn’t B.S. a customer;  Some yard guy who pulled a couple of stagnate beams out of the bottom of a pile should get a quality control update;  and I’m pleased that Weyerhaeuser, a company I worked for for many years has made a quick response and agreed to a fair settlement.

BUT, buyer beware!

 


Edited 6/12/2002 9:23:45 PM ET by Notchman

Reply

Replies

  1. User avater
    Mongo | Jun 13, 2002 07:45am | #1

    Notchman,

    Glad to see that everything worked out in the end. I'm in full agreement with you regarding engineered lumber. If it's not 100% good, then it's 100% bad. No compromise.

    Do you think your history with Weyerhauser helped you out?

    They must have passed a couple of those fancy "old-growth" beams off on you...ones that were discovered after they'd spent several years at the bottom of a river.<g>

    1. FrankB89 | Jun 13, 2002 08:04am | #2

      Actually, I've been gone from the big W for better than a dozen years so I have no pull.

      What did help was not letting some pin head have the last word.

      We had an earlier problem with some BCI joists on this project (Boise Cascade) which they immediately made good also, but again it was a case of some weathered stuff being included in the shipment.  (One 33 foot joist had dry rot in the flanges).

      This material is fine to work with, up to a point, but it's fragile against the elements.

      I'm fairly new to it so I'm learning that I have to pay attention to what I'm getting and how I handle it. 

  2. User avater
    BossHog | Jun 13, 2002 03:50pm | #3

    Engineered wood getting wet is a constant problem. Beams don't move fast and need to be protected from the weather. But there's not a lot of margin in them, so most places won't spend the money to build a building where they can handle and store 60' stuff all the time.

    Typically the stuff sits outside, and is covered by tarps or tyvek-like wraps. Sometimes the tarps blow off in storms, or don't get pulled back over the stuff after part of a bunk of the stuff is pulled.

    I don't know that I would agree with the guy who said it would never return to it's original size. I think that most of the time they do. But you may not have the time to let it sit around and dry out on the jobsite.

    Don't exactly know what the answer is. Guess you just have to keep an eye on the stuff when it gets to the jobsite. But that's a pain too.

    Why do I have to get married? I didn't do anything wrong.

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