Katherine Masse

Floor performance: A matter of perception

How a floor system performs, in the eyes (or mind) of someone who occupies that floor, is a very subjective assessment.  One person’s opinion of how it should feel when standing or walking on a floor can differ markedly from another’s.  Besides, industry standards aren’t necessarily helpful since meeting minimum building code design requirements doesn’t … Continued

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Getting Connected

It’s not enough to simply specify the right components for a building project.  An architect, engineer or designer must also specify how those components should be installed… how the pieces connect to one another.  Sometimes a simple fastener schedule is adequate when wood-to-wood connections are needed.  But often, especially in today’s world of engineered building … Continued

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Above & Beyond: Individual Joist Testing

Open Joist TRIFORCE® stands out among engineered floor joists because every joist is tested before it leaves Barrette’s state-of-the-art factory.  Only Open Joist products are put through such a testing process. Passing the test helps ensure that only proven joists are shipped to a job site. You can install TRIFORCE® with confidence. Builders and developers … Continued

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Floor System Design: Loading

When designing a floor system, it is crucial to understand how weight and loads are distributed throughout a building.  Often, floor framing plays an important role in transferring loads from the roof to the foundation of a building. To ensure proper structural integrity, the floor loading assessment must account for factors such as roof design, … Continued

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Passive House: building sustainably with TRIFORCE® floor systems

The Passive House movement is becoming a growing trend in the construction industry. Indeed, the idea of building the most energy efficient house has finally become a reality, and the movement is increasingly inspiring builders to improve their projects. The Passive House concept has achieved a certain notoriety in Europe. It actually comes from Germany, … Continued

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The rise of modular building – a 6-story example

When you think about it, modular building represents the industrialization of the construction process. Factory-built parts shipped to a site and quickly assembled with minimum environmental impact, and at blistering speeds. Has modular building come of age? Are we approaching an industrial revolution in construction? If you base yourself on the speed at which modular … Continued

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Green building practices that call for open web joists

A recent study by Dodge Data & Analytics demonstrates quite convincingly that green building is going mainstream. The study reveals that more than a third of multifamily and single-family builders are engaging in green building practices. The two most important green building practices Of all green home performance factors, both builders and customers are most concerned … Continued

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Inside the floor cavity – welcome to the jungle

Contrary to floors built with 2″ x 10″, an engineered wood floor system allows you to hide a large portion of a house’s mechanical systems. Using the floor cavity in this way enables you to design uniform, wide open living spaces. It also reduces the need to run HVAC ducting in attic spaces, which from … Continued

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Installing TRIFORCE®, the open web floor joist

Every once in a while we like to get back to basics with some installation tips.  If you are new to installing TRIFORCE®, these guidelines will help you transition from what you were using before. For those of you that are already using this great product, there’s no harm in going over a quick refresher in … Continued

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Dealing with rising materials pricing and shortages

In the past few months, we’ve heard a lot of talk about rising materials pricing. From softwood lumber to gypsum and concrete, many materials have seen substantial price increases since the beginning of the year.  Lumber pricing won’t likely stabilize in the short-term either. Not only rising materials pricing but shortages too Some of this instability … Continued

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*Note/mention: The designer and/or general contractor of the project or building must ensure the accuracy of the technical information discussed in this blog over the years and always rely on the most up-to-date product’s requirements, specifications and installation guidelines available online on this website, and the applicable codes and standards.