FAQs: Products / Services | Structural Wood Components

1. What does SWC need in order to obtain a quote and have my Heavy Timber Trusses built?
In order to get started, it is helpful for the customer to answer as many of the following questions as possible, some of which SWC may assist with:

How many trusses are needed?
What general design or truss configuration is preferred?
Are the trusses simply Decorative or also Structural?
Will an engineer’s stamped drawings, and perhaps a calculation package be required?
Is there a specific wood species preferred?
What wood finish is desired, Rough, Smooth, or other?
Any particular timber size desired?
Does customer want external connection plates & bolts or another assembly method?
What are critical truss dimensions, such as span, pitch, heel height or foot width?
These dimensions are shown on our Quote Request Form.
Do you want SWC to ship the trusses to your job site? What is the location?
What is your required delivery date?

2. How do I decide on a truss design?
A customer may wish to consult with his architect or builder on this, or SWC can offer suggestions utilizing photographs, CAD drawings and other reference material from previous jobs. Truss design is very much a customer preference, but is also dependent on whether or not the truss needs to be Structural in addition to Decorative. Member sizing is frequently driven by building parameters such as roof pitch, truss spacing, room span, and roof configuration. Click here to see Truss Examples.

3. Does SWC engineer its trusses?
This depends on whether or not the trusses are purely Decorative, or both Decorative and Structural. All Structural trusses must be engineered. The customer may assume this responsibility by providing plans certified by his engineer, or SWC will charge a fee to have a Professional Engineer review the design. The engineer utilizes building loads provided by the customer or derived from plans. In this case, SWC will provide a stamped drawing certifying the load-carrying capability of the truss. Please note that standard engineering analysis will only take into consideration vertical loads such as dead, live and uplift roof loads. No lateral loading is considered unless specifically requested as part of the engineering scope. Trusses that are Decorative only (supporting no significant building load) are typically self-supporting and do not require a formal engineering review.

4. Can I use curved members such as arches?
Yes, we frequently use curved members in truss design. In most cases, the trusses must be non-structural. Component radius and length is limited by the available width (and associated expense) of the solid beam from which the arched member must be cut. When using curved members made of glue-laminated beams, there is virtually no limit to the design and structural applications. Curved Glulams are frequently used for institutional installations such as churches, schools or recreational facilities.

5. What type of surface texture do the timbers have?
Depending on the customer’s preference, we build most trusses with either a RS (“Rough Sawn” meaning band sawn or “fuzzy” textured) finish or S4S (“Smooth on Four Sides” or planed) finish. We also supply trusses built of reclaimed materials having a beautiful, naturally aged surface, or offer several faux surface textures replicating antique or reclaimed materials.

6. Does SWC treat, seal, stain or paint truss materials?
For the health and safety of our team members and our customers, we prefer not to fabricate using pressure treated lumber that contains a variety of extremely TOXIC compounds. When we are, on occasion, required to fabricate using pre-treated materials we use precautions to protect our team members from exposure to these toxins. We can also pre-fabricate and then have the items treated (post fabrication) if required. Also, it’s important to note that Southern Yellow Pine is the only species that can be pressure treated effectively. Some materials such as Western Red Cedar and Douglas fir are naturally resistant to insects and moisture.

For exterior applications, we have other environmentally friendly, non-toxic treatment options that are extremely effective. CaraPro Wood Sealer by Integricote is a state-of-the-art, clear (colors available), matt finish designed by the University of Houston Physics department. We have been honored to be one of their original product tester and have used the product with great success over the past several years.

Additionally, we have teamed up with DavLaur Coatings to test and market their Wet Wood Stain line of non-toxic wood finishes. Both Wet Wood and CaraPro products utilized patented nano-technologies, that are effective protection against pests and wood-rot, and are considered by the EPA to be exempt from regulation because of their non-toxic formulations.

We generally prefer not to apply stains at our facility, but we do have the capability if it is absolutely required. We do not recommend this because it is difficult to avoid minor cosmetic damage during shipping, handling and installation. Most trusses also experience limited exposure to the elements during framing. We have found that most clients prefer to use their paint contractor to coordinate truss finishing with other final painting of the building near the end of a project.

Additional FAQs: