From the early pioneering days to now, natural wood-based products have featured heavily in the New Zealand building and construction environment. New Zealand builders are familiar with timber and this familiarity and comfort leads to innovation and confidence in the use of wood-products.
It is evident from the growth in the use of LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) that the preference for wood-based engineered building products continues to grow. LVL is an engineered product which takes traditional wood and by peeling, drying and glueing veneers together under heat and pressure, transforms it into a product that is stronger, stiffer and available in a wider range of sizes and lengths than sawn timber sections.
Futurebuild® LVL is the engineered wood product to take your projects to the next level; made from multiple layers of wood veneer laminated together under precise factory conditions, combined using heat and pressure resulting in a solid, consistent material that delivers proven structural reliability along with design versatility.
In response to the constant changes and challenges in the building market, the industry needs to be innovative and utilise products that are both efficient and sustainable. LVL is made from sustainably grown plantation pine, a naturally renewable material. Untreated and H1.2 treated Futurebuild LVL products are available Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified (FSC-C007103) upon request and are Declare accredited, making them suitable for use in Living Building Challenge projects.
New Zealand builders, architects and engineers are unlocking the potential of LVL as a building material as they come to realise this product has more uses than just as a beam. With the next generation of LVL systems including Timber Concrete Composite (TCC) Floors, LVL Portal Frame systems and LVL post and beam structures, taking off the use of LVL can be seen across residential, commercial, industrial and rural buildings. The use of LVL in Residential Mid-Floor and roofing applications via our Residential Design Service is a simple and easy process that delivers great results.
Free Residential Design Service: For your mid-floor and roof solutions
You can make mid-floor and roof specification, supply, and installation easier with the free Residential Design Service offered by Futurebuild® LVL. Using Futurebuild LVL (laminated veneer lumber) engineered wood, the Futurebuild LVL Residential Design Service takes away the pressure of designing complicated mid-floors and provides delivery (to store) of a nominal length kit- set midfloor and/or roof system.
How does the free Residential Design Service work?
Architects, designers, builders, or merchant stores send plans to [email protected]. The Futurebuild LVL Residential Design Team of engineers use proprietary software developed in-house to complete a take-off or design of the plans, transforming them into a structurally reliable, New Zealand Building Code compliant system.
The team will then generate layouts, quotes, and a Design Certificate (if applicable) with a unique job number. Once the job is ordered, a kitset with nominal length individual pieces for the mid-floor or roof are labelled, packaged, and delivered to the merchant store ready for site. This also includes the layout plans printed on waterproof paper and the additional componentry and brackets for floor systems, such as joist hangers and nails.
Why use the Futurebuild Residential Design Service?
The Futurebuild LVL design team have the ability to optimise the design and generate the most cost-effective mid floor solution utilising LVL products such as hyJOIST® and hySPAN®. hyJOIST, is a composite plywood/LVL I-Beam is available in a range of thicknesses (45mm, 63mm and 90mm) and in lengths up to 12.6m, providing a combination of sizes to allow for a fully optimised design.
hyJOIST also makes life easier on site with the ability to cut large holes through the plywood web. Services, such as plumbing or ducting, can then be run through the floor joist which can, in most cases, eliminates the need for a drop ceiling or bulk heads.
The handy designIT® Site App is available to calculate the size of the holes when onsite and is available for free download from the iPhone and Android App stores. Futurebuild LVL is also lightweight and easy to handle, with hyJOIST being around 66% and 60% of the weight of equivalent stiffness 240 and 290×45 SG8 solid timber joist respectively.
Working with straight and uniform engineered Futurebuild LVL products offer many benefits on-site, including no packing, planning or mid-span blocking, saving time and money on installation and resulting in a floor that is less likely to squeak.
All Futurebuild LVL Residential Design Service jobs are supported by the technical expertise of Futurebuild LVL’s engineers and architects. For more information, visit www.futurebuild.co.nz or phone 0800 808 131.
To use this free service today, email your plans to [email protected].