Studio Construction: Roof Beams

This is an exciting delivery - roof beams.

They were designed by the engineer, Ritchie Smith of  Hoel Engineering and Contracting and constructed in a nearby factory. Another engineered product as the 'greener' option.

Dave guides a bundle of beams as they are taken off the truck bed.

Engineered roof beams have lots of advantages over lengths of timber. They are designed in an 'I' shape for strength and are reliably straighter than natural wood. There are fewer defects while a piece of timber will have weakening knots and grain abnormalities, structural and cosmetic problems that over time can take more resources to repair. The extra initial cost of the manufactured beam is more than made up with less wastage on site, fewer materials to get the equivalent required strength and quicker installation.

It looks like the load arrived with graffiti.

The name is not graffiti. It is the owner of the construction company's name, Aaron Yager.

Here is Jeff measuring twice and cutting once.

I think Dave and Jeff appreciated another advantage of engineered roof beams - they are lighter. But they still must have taken a lot of effort to hoist them up onto the roof.

Here is a cross section of the 'I' beam - a naturally strong shape.

Nearly all of the beams are in place.

Next a roooooof!