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February 2024 #16295 Page #10
Floor Truss Technology, Part IX: Floor Finale By Joe Kannapell
o complete this floor series, it’s wor th examining how we’re doing against I-joists.
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Mixed Signals: Many CMs think trusses are slowly making gains, and this is backed up by the brisk sales of floor machines. However, around here in central Virginia, most detached houses have consistently used I-joists, although some conversions came because of doubling EWP prices and shortages. This gained business may be in jeopardy though, because both Trus Joist and Boise have dropped prices to try to revive sales. And Boise is beefing up supply, taking “…meaningful steps via acquisition and organic initiatives to expand our EWP capacity,” in the words of CEO Nate Jorgensen. Yet I-joist prices remain considerably above the prices of 3 to 5 years ago. Room for Optimism?: Another way to tell how we’re doing is to compare Boise’s and Trus Joist’s sales with single family housing starts, because that’s where they’ve been besting CMs. As shown in the graph, beginning about a decade ago, the downward trend is undeniable. Clearly some systemic factors are at work beyond the recent price volatility. And the extent of this decline is exacerbated by the fact that more floor decks are built every year due to the vertical rise of housing. For example, a four-story 2000 sq. ft. townhouse has 12% more floor area than a three-story 2000 sq. ft. house when both are built on concrete slabs. Likewise, two-story single family houses (requiring second-floor framing) are now predominant in many former ranch-style home communities. Perhaps some solid-sawn floor joists displaced I-joists while they were on allocation, and replaced trusses when plates were being rationed. But these shortages ceased more than a year ago, and some rebound in demand should have occurred by now. Since I-joists per single family start have continued to trend downward, truss sales per single family start must have moved upward at a corresponding rate, or about 5% per year. At least some of those who recently tried trusses liked them better, especially if they previously had to cut I-joists to length or benefitted from some of these well-established pluses: Continued next page
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