We can’t thank you enough for all of your support this year. From our entire team, we want to wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year! Also, we want to share a sincere thank you for being a part of all of our monthly TRIFORCE® blog posts. We’re so excited to head into the new year with you as readers of our new publications for 2024.
You can be sure that TRIFORCE® joists will make your projects easier, more efficient and more profitable again this year. Take it as a promise!
To make a short review of the past year, highlighting the main themes addressed last year, we talked about how to improve your floor system, many advantages of Triforce®, our concern for the environment and advances in construction technology.
For the construction industry, in 2024, it could be important to consider resolutions such as adopting sustainable practices, focusing on worksite safety, innovating with building materials or improving building energy efficiency. This year, we’ll take a closer look at these topics and see how Triforce® can help meet these criteria.
Again, we’re wishing you all the best for your goals, plans, and resolutions as we enter the new year.
SAFE STORAGE AND HANDLING OF THE OPEN JOIST TRIFORCE®
As the New Year begins, we thought we’d remind you why it’s so important to store your open joist TRIFORCE® properly and how to do it. Indeed, good joist storage is significant for several reasons and here are 5 of them:
- Avoiding deterioration
- Preserving structural integrity
- Minimizing costs
- Efficiency
- Respecting regulations
Why is it important to store your Open Joist TRIFORCE® properly ?
Understanding the significance of storing your Open Joist TRIFORCE® properly is essential for ensuring the longevity and optimal performance of these amazing engineered wood floor joists.
Let’s see the 5 reasons in details:
- Avoiding deterioration: Certain factors can damage joists, such as moisture, pests and physical impact, but proper storage can prevent this. Moisture can cause joists to warp, rot or weaken. And pests, such as termites, cause structural damage. To avoid these problems, it’s essential to store joists in a dry, safe place.
- Preserving structural integrity: Since joists support floor, ceiling and roof loads, they are undoubtedly crucial elements of a building’s structure. To ensure that the integrity of this structure is not compromised, it is essential to ensure that joists are properly stored. The consequences of improper storage include safety hazards, and costly repairs or replacements.
- Minimizing costs: To avoid unnecessary expense and prolong the life of joists, they must be stored properly. Often, part of the structure has to be dismantled to replace weakened or damaged joists, and this can be very costly. With proper storage, joists will not deteriorate prematurely, and will remain in good condition for their intended use.
- Efficiency : How can well-organized storage increase the efficiency of a floor system? In fact, it makes it easy to access and retrieve joists when needed. This saves time and effort on construction sites. What’s more, a well-organized storage system makes it possible to identify and select joists for specific applications. Overall efficiency is therefore maximized.
- Respecting regulations: In some jurisdictions, there are regulations or building codes concerning the storage of building materials, including floor joists. This may include requirements for keeping materials a certain distance from property lines, maintaining clear access for emergency personnel, securing materials to prevent them from falling or shifting. Respecting these regulations makes it easier to ensure compliance and avoid potential legal problems or penalties.
To sum up, proper storage of floor joists is essential to protect the integrity of the building structure, reduce costs, ensure an efficient open joist system and comply with regulations. This investment ensures better building quality and longevity.
How to safe storage and handling of Open Joist TRIFORCE® ?
As a little reminder, our team wants to share with you 12 rules for safe storage and handling of the Open Joist TRIFORCE® .
Properly storing and handling these joists is crucial to ensure their longevity and structural integrity. By adhering to the following guidelines, you not only protect the Open Joist TRIFORCE® from the elements but also contribute to a smoother installation process and extend the overall lifespan of the joists.
Let’s delve into these 12 essential rules:”
- Protect the TRIFORCE® joists from the weather by keeping the bundles wrapped. They can easily be stored for 2 years, well-packed and dry. Without protection, wood graying and mold growth can occur.
- Don’t unwrap the TRIFORCE® bundles right up until the time of installation. This will protect the joists from dirt and weather.
- Always store, stack and handle the joists vertically and level. Never leave them lying flat. The weight distribution of the top and bottom members ensures that the joist stays straight when stacked vertically. When it’s horizontal and not level, it tends to hook more easily.
- Use wood stickers in order to separate the bundles under each automatically inserted stickers.
- Never store TRIFORCE® joists in direct contact with the ground. Use wood stickers. For optimal moisture protection, we recommend 6 inches up off the ground.
- Store the longest material the lowest to the ground. There’s a very physical part to it: the longest way down is always more stable and solid than an inverted pyramid. And it’s as simple as that for safety. As long as a smaller joist is placed on top of a larger one, the latter will remain straighter.
- Watch out for forklift damage! If the ground isn’t level in the storage area, go slowly to prevent the load from “bouncing” too much.
- When handling with a crane, always keep the TRIFORCE® vertical. You can also use a spreader to minimize handling stresses.
- Don’t stack it too high! Maintain the height within safe limits. A simple question of safety and avoiding breakage. The higher up and out of sight the equipment is, the easier it is to damage it.
- Do not lift the joist by the top flange. It’s not advisable to simply lift it from the top, as the entire weight of the joist is borne by the top chord. It’s true that our assembly is well made and well glued, but we mustn’t neglect the weight of the raw material.
- Do not stack other material on top of the TRIFORCE® bundles. Our joists are designed to absorb a certain load, and this load is distributed according to very precise standards. That’s why putting a lot of weight on a small surface can compromise strength/capacity.
- Watch out, the bundles can be very slippery, especially when wet. Walking on the bundles is therefore not recommended!
Following these 12 rules will ensure your TRIFORCE® open joists are in perfect condition when it comes time to install them.
Are you curious to know more about all the benefits of open joist TRIFORCE®? We recommend that you download are spec guide, you will find a lot of useful information about these amazing engineered wood floor joists.
