TRIFORCE®: Cost Advantage over Plated Trusses

This is a good time to point out that steel-plate-connected floor truss lead times are stretching out longer and longer every day while TRIFORCE^® made-to-stock joists ship within days.  But it’s an even better time to discuss another advantage enjoyed by TRIFORCE^®…cost savings. Here’s why TRIFORCE^® costs less…significantly less…than steel plated floor trusses.

Steel Cost

First, there’s steel.  TRIFORCE^® doesn’t use any steel but traditional floor trusses do.  Lots of it.  Prices for this commodity have been surging upward for some time.  But now, as a result of new tariffs in the U.S., steel costs have skyrocketed.  As the connecting technology, steel plates are a major cost contributor in the manufacture of plated trusses.  This cost doesn’t exist with TRIFORCE^®.

Wood Cost

Wood is burdened with historically high prices.  Tariffs coming into the U.S. have had the greatest impact on prices but supply and delivery issues have affected them too.  Regardless of cause, it appears lumber will remain expensive for the significant future.  Because TRIFORCE^® joists are assembled with finger joinery and adhesive, wood fiber consumption is reduced to only the amount necessary to back the joist’s specified strength.  Plated trusses are somewhat wasteful when it comes to the use of wood fiber. Because chord and web surfaces must be maintained on the same plane for plate connection, traditional floor trusses use more wood fiber than necessary and certainly more than a TRIFORCE^® joist designed to do the same job. Raw materials lumber cost is less with TRIFORCE^® joists.

Labor Cost

And, labor requirements for manufacturing are vastly different when comparing the two products.  While steel-plate-connected trusses require extensive assembly labor action and time, TRIFORCE^® joists are assembled robotically in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.  In a given period of time, more TRIFORCE^® joists can be produced by fewer people than is possible with plated floor trusses.  Lineal foot labor cost for TRIFORCE^® is much less than that for traditional trusses.

Freight Cost

Not as dramatic but still important is the cost savings per lineal foot resulting from TRIFORCE^®’s weight advantage.  Without steel plates and surplus wood fiber, TRIFORCE^® joists weigh as much as 25% less than plated trusses of the same size.  This allows for more joists shipped on a truck and a lower freight cost per lineal foot of component.

Steel, wood, labor, freight…the factors that determine the final cost of a floor joist/truss.  In the current construction environment, cost deserves as much attention as the capabilities of products being considered for use in a project.

Cost advantage is another way open joist TRIFORCE^® provides peace of mind underfoot!

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