The designIT® sITe App has been growing in popularity with builders as a must-have on-site tool when working with Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) based products.
Developed in-house by the Futurebuild LVL team, the designIT® sITe App serves as a handy reference tool and calculator for tradesmen who use Futurebuild LVL products, giving designers confidence that the specified products will be installed in accordance with Futurebuild LVL specifications.
Colin Taverner, Business Development Manager at Futurebuild LVL, takes great pride in demonstrating the App and seeing the reaction it gets.
“It gives everyone in the building channel confidence. The designers know that when they specify Futurebuild LVL, contractors on site have a tool that fits in their pocket to easily access installation information,” he says.
“Having the App gives you access to many tools without having to thumb through brochures or search the website. My favourite tool is the hole calculator you can use with hyJOIST® and hySPAN® and other LVL products. Whenever I’m demonstrating the App, I find most people are surprised with how easy it is to design large holes for services in hyJOIST in comparison to the smaller diameter holes allowable in unreinforced solid section LVL and SG8. This tool means the builder as well as other tradespeople can check it right then and there, on site, any time.”
The App provides access to all Futurebuild LVL details as well as allowing builders, plumbers and electricians to determine the appropriate size and location of holes for services in both solid Futurebuild LVL and hyJOIST floor joists.
Details include common rafter overhangs in hyJOIST, plus the ability to review and re-design bearers, joists, lintels and rafters. The results can be saved to the device or the cloud for access on other designIT platforms. All of Futurebuild LVL’s literature is accessible from the designIT sITe App.
Since 1999, designIT for houses has enabled building practitioners to design components for houses and similar structures using engineered wood products and/or SG8. Quick and simple to use, it contains deceptively powerful software useful for the selection of beam sizes and is available on both Windows and Mac operating systems.
For those not familiar with designIT for houses, the software removes the need for architects and designers to interpolate span tables, and provides solutions to complex load conditions without the need to separately engage an engineer to provide the solution, saving time and money with design fees. designIT for houses includes the ability to design perpendicular load bearing walls on floor joists as well as lintels supporting common truss configurations and develops a site-specific Design Certificate and Producer Statement for Building Consent Authority approval.
As an engineered wood product, LVL offers high structural reliability, uniformity and predictability. The design and specification of both sawn timber and LVL products can be optimised using the free software solutions available from Futurebuild LVL.
The Futurebuild LVL team also offer nationwide CPD training, have a dedicated specification team and offer personalised product, software and app training*.
Visit the Futurebuild LVL website www.futurebuild.co.nz to find out more or to get in touch with the team today.
The designIT Site App can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play