Summary

  • iLevel is looking to diversify use of I-joists.
  • Two new product launches are planned this year.
  • A website dedicated to the aesthetic use of Parallam will go live in September.

The new man at the helm of iLevel Trus Joist in the UK, Neil Lewis, has a busy second half of the year ahead.

Product launches and a new product website are among the features being planned by iLevel.

And he said the company was also committed to improving technical back-up and continuing to diversify use of its TJI joists beyond floor applications.

“There is still a job to do with technical understanding and use of engineered wood products,” said Mr Lewis. “We need to make sure we have full technical back-up, it’s not enough to just have sales.”

Mr Lewis estimated that I-joists now have close to 50% of the upper storey floor system market in the housebuilding sector, with saturation being reached in the national housebuilder sector two to three years ago.

iLevel is looking to develop opportunities with small- to medium-size housebuilders and also sees potential in roofing applications and the commercial sector. “We are seeing roofing as the place we are pushing TJI joists for the next 6-12 months,” said Mr Lewis.

The company has also been supplying TJI joists for mezzanine floors and flat-roofed or low-pitched roofs, with architects increasingly recognising the flexibility of the product and its ability to deliver long, straight lengths.

Commercial market

Mr Lewis described the commercial market as “very important”, representing part of the next stage of I-joist development.

The recent installation of a large industrial mezzanine floor for Bristol-based specialist joinery operation Fileturn South West was a prime example. The 18×12.2m floor was installed to create additional production space.

Original plans called for sawn timber but architects CMS Bath Ltd chose TJI joists for their long span ability and flexibility.

The floor, supplied by Gloucester-based TP Williams and Farmer, comprised 302mm deep TJI 360 series joists supported by a steel frame and a Timberstrand LSL rim. A P6 chipboard covered the joists.

Mr Lewis said opportunities also existed for I-joists in ground floors, typically the domain of concrete. But changing builders’ traditional mindsets was a challenge. “Lots of builders use solid concrete as the ground floor and use it as a build platform. The biggest job we have is actually changing their perceptions.”

He believes this sector, if successfully tapped, could double the opportunities in the housebuilder market. “I think it is possible to change the perceptions, but it will take time. The increase in people looking to add basements into their constructions will help.”

iLevel is also working with H+H UK, the manufacturer of Celcon aircrete blocks, and Corus in a multi-material solution for buildings.

Research and development

As well as new applications, iLevel, backed by its US parent Weyerhaeuser, is continuing research and development work.

Mr Lewis said engineered wood product development was often a long-term incremental development process, but he hinted there could be changes to I-joist technology in the coming years, possibly involving veneer technologies. He said iLevel was looking at how far it could push the I-joist to improve the product and lower costs of production. “They will still look very familiar – the I-joist shape works well.”

New products are also in the pipeline. “We will be announcing a new product in the next couple of months that will be quite a step forward in achieving 60min fire protection in timber frame party walls,” said Mr Lewis.

The new product will be a Timberstrand rimboard combined with another material, forming part of a structural floor cassette. Fire testing has been completed and it is expected to be launched on the market in September.

Another development, hoped to be launched by the end of 2007, is a TJI floor system based on the TJI joist, with other components, which is designed to cut down sound transferral between floors.

iLevel is also working on a new design software system which will bring both roofing and floor components together, ensuring better connectivity between different parts of the building. It is earmarked for launch in the first half of 2008.

Parallam, iLevel’s parallel strand lumber structural product, is also getting in on the action, with an increased promotion of its use as an aesthetic material. Until now, it has been largely been hidden away in building structures.

“We are positioning Parallam into this kind of environment,” Mr Lewis added. “We feel the consistency of colour and grain lends itself [to aesthetic use].”

A new website dedicated to Parallam’s use in interior design, www.parallam.co.uk, will go live in September.

Mr Lewis, who has a Parallam beam above his own fireplace, said benches made from the material had recently been installed in the Tate Gallery.