The display of incised fence posts designed to improve timber treatment permeability on spruce showed James Jones & Sons Ltd was taking a lead on this important issue.

James Jones, which had doubled last year’s stand size and was exhibiting solid wood products for the first time at Ecobuild – it normally just shows its engineered timber ranges – has invested in a new machine to cut lots of small slots in spruce posts.

Production will be launched at the end of May and sales director Keith Ainslie told TTJ “our gut feeling is it’s the right thing to do”.

Cases of early fence post failures, mainly spruce, continue to be reported across the sector and incising has been highlighted as one of the solutions to prevent this.

Mr Ainslie said James Jones’s solid timber business was 20% ahead in the first few months of 2012.

Elsewhere on the James Jones stand the timber systems division showed its JJ-IntelliRoof, JJI-Joists and the glulam BJ-Beam. The company reported it is in the process of testing fire-retardant treatments on the JJI-Joists.

Meanwhile, the JJI-Loft system (in conjunction with Simpson Strong-Tie) is seeing a good order level take-up and it will be further promoted in 2012 through distributors in the London area.

The loft system comprises JJI-Joists and the Simpson Joist End Support, removing the need for steel beams and allowing joists to continue right into the eaves.

On the engineered timber side James Jones was also pushing its JJ-IntelliRoof at Ecobuild.

“Now is the time to be pushing panelised roofs and the speed of building,” said Brian Robertson, business development manager with James Jones’s Timber Systems Division.

“People aren’t building on spec so when they build a house they need the customer in and paying the bill.”

The company highlighted the extra interior space the system provides by using a red line to illustrate the line of attic trusses. The design was also enhanced with a cabriole balcony and a PV panel.

“Solar panels can be put on the roof at ground level, before the roof is installed,” said Mr Robertson.