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Understanding and Detailing for Wood Shrinkage

Speaker:
Doug Steimle, P.E., Steven Schaefer Associates, Inc.
Date:
September 14, 2011
Session Details

Wood construction is an economical and widely used construction method, commonly used for multi-story college dormitories, condominiums, apartments and hotels. One of the most challenging issues with wood construction is dealing with problems associated with wood shrinkage, such as drywall cracks, windows not being able to be closed when there is a veneer, and cracks in PVC plumbing. This session educated those attending about where the majority of wood shrinkage comes from, how to minimize the total amount of shrinkage the building experiences, and how to detail for the shrinkage that the building will experience. It focused on identifying wood shrinkage characteristics of commonly used dimensional and engineered wood products, identifying conditions where differential movements within a typical building occur including windows and plumbing stacks, and identifying effective methods for limiting problems associated with differential movements.

Session Length: 1.5 hours

Current SE University subscribers can access the recording in their SEU Resource Center account. Please use the link below to view the session page in the SEU Session Library.