Splicing
Engineered Lumber
To the Editor:
The article, "Engineered Beams
and Headers" (8/91), presented a
good review of new materials in
wood. However, two items in the
sidebar, "Making Connections,"
need revision. Beams resting in
pockets must be isolated from the
concrete so that moisture cannot
move from the concrete to the
wood beam. Making a treated
wood box does not serve this
purpose.
A more critical error was in
the "splices" paragraph. The
author recommends splicing a
continuous beam at the points of
maximum bending moment. A
reasonable estimate of the
position of points of zero bending
moment is at the quarter spans
on either side of the center post.
It is at these points that splices
can be made with no effect on
beam