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EWPs go Gommercial
Glulam remain popular despite slump in wood product demand
THE wood products industry has seen plenty of bad I news of late, as lumber and engineered wood demand continue to decline due to the housing slump. However, field reports show a slim rainbow of good news for wholesalers and retailers who specialize in commercial and institutional construction.
Industry analysts predict that housing starts may decline another 140,000 units this year, following the 300,000 drop in 2001 . Even so, demand for glued laminated timber is stronger than other engineered wood in many areas.
Troy Ford, product manager for Boise Cascade, agrees that glulam has not declined as much as some other engineered wood, including I-joists and LVL.
The growing availability of pressure treated glulam has also helped strengthen market demand. Many orders specify rough sawn or special finish glulams.
"ln addition to stock beams for headers, roof and floor beams, we are seeing orders for architectural appearance grades such as curved compound radius timbers," Ford adds. Custom glulams are also widely specified for condos and multi-family units.
Boise emphasizes commercial glulams at many of their customer events, such as barbecues, contractor nights, and golf outings.
Terry Melzer, Cudahy Lumber, Portland, Or., reports that although glulam timber demand is down, it continues to have strength in the overall engineered wood market. Melzer says this is because glulam is increasingly regarded as superior to solid sawn wood.
Melzer adds that glulam is outperforming other engineered wood as well as steel framing, which often has an "industrial" look.
"We're seeing more of our glulam sales going into nonresidential, especially Lock-Deck," he says, referring to the laminated roof decking produced at Disdero Lumber's plant in Chehalis, Wa.
Gunnar Brinck, Disdero's vice president of Lock-Deck, says their sales volume has been fairly level because they focus on wholesalers who serve pro dealers supplying churches, schools, retail stores, offices and other non-residential construction.
Many architects who design commercial buildings like the strength, economy and aesthetic warmth of glulam decking.
Plywood Supply, Kenmore, Wa., agrees that while residential tract builders are hurting, the market for engineered wood is steadier in condos, multi-family, and custom homes.
Mike Warnek, Matheus Lumber, Seattle, Wa., says glulam has increased its share of the engineered wood market for headers, floor and roof beams as well as exposed ridge beams. Warnek believes that lenders have made a negative impact on the single family home market and that a recovery will partly depend on the apartment vacancy rate.
The Alamco Company name has been synonymous with glulam quality across the Midwest and East for 70 years. The Albert Lea, Mn.-based company's original name was Rilco, when it supplied hundreds of equestrian and dairy barns throughout the upper mid-section of the country, and later became a branch of Weyerhaeuser before taking on the name Alamco.
John Forman, company manager, says that churches, hotels, water parks, and other commercial structures are its primary targets these days. They have also diversified into poles and electrical transmission towers.
"There is a new opportunity in church construction because of slulam's warm aesthetics. which make dramatic interiors," Forman says. "Many churches, especially the Catholic faith, are merging into one new building because of the shortage of priests."
Beverley Gilmore of US Glulam, a long-time engineered wood wholesaler serving the Chicago area, says the commercial/institutional market is different from residential because more specifiers are involved in selecting building materials.
Gilmore says their 600-plus retailer and industrial customers pay increasing attention to the non-residential market. "Al1 types of engineered wood are down, but large glulam trusses and post and beam construction are holding their own better than other engineered wood," he says.
US Glulam representatives join their dealer customers in making sales calls on engineers and architects and tailor their website to these specifiers as well.
The company is seeing increased orders for Lock-Deck and other brands of laminated decking, particularly 3x6 for post and beam second homes. Most of the 4x6 and 5x6 deck go into commercial jobs.
What's also helped glulam's steady numbers is that the tight market for residential builders has caused many dealers to spend more sales time and direct mail to reach architects, engineers and contractors.
Engineered wood distributor Huttig Building Products, Phoenix, Az., has also upped its contacts to commercial building specifiers. "To succeed in this tight market, you have to move beyond traditional single fam- ily residential jobs," says Don Lamberton. "Our representatives call on dealer customers to promote glulam, I-joists and LVL, and we have value-added workshops for dealers."
Even though tract building is down substantially, glulam framing maintains a solid position in multi-family, custom homes, and commercial jobs, Lamberton notes.
One advantage of glulam is its availability in architectural grades, which are specified for exposed ridge beams in cathedral ceilings as well as rough sawn surfaces and special finishes.
Trend Toward EWP
Glued laminated timbers are a stress-rated engineered wood product comprised of wood laminations, or "lams," bonded together with strong, waterproof adhesive. This means that no large, old-growth trees are needed in the fabrication of the beams.
About 307o of all glulam beams and trusses manufactured in the U.S. are used in commercial and institutional construction, a sizeable increase over the past five years, according to the American Institute of Timber Construction.
Glued laminated wood arches, beams and trusses are also a renewable resource, because U.S. foresters plant five million trees each day to insure a future supply of wood. This contrasts with steel and concrete, which deplete natural resources.
A major reason why glulam timbers and decking are a force in the market is that the furring, sheathing and finishing often required with steel framing can be eliminated with glulam construction.
Also, when glulam materials arrive at the jobsite prefinished, the delivered product is the finished product. This makes glulam unique as a structural component for many kinds of buildings. Other types of framing members arrive on site in raw form and require additional cladding to create the final product.
Architects find that a dramatic, exposed timber ceiling combines economy with warm aesthetics. It also avoids the need for fire protection wrapping, which would be required for steel construction.
- For more information on laminated timbers, contact the American Institute of Timber Construction, 7012 S. Revere Pkwy., #140 Centennial, Co.80l l2; (303) 792 9 5 59 ; www.aitc - glulam.org.
