EWP - Engineered Wood Products
Design Service
Our Engineered Wood Products (EWPs) includes joists, Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), flooring and metalwork, and this offering is partnered with our industry-leading EWP design service.
We maintain our own Engineered Wood Products design and production team at Alsford, who are responsible for the high-quality range that our customers rely on.
Free Design Service
The Alsford in-house Design Team can calculate all your material requirements from your working drawings, this service is included free of charge.
Our team have over 20 years experience, and are relied upon by national and regional developers.
We will supply from stock every component cut to size for your bespoke design, including all the associated builders’ metalwork.
Our Engineered Wood Products Range
EWP Joists are commonly used as a base for decking and roofing structures. These are kept secure with our EWP Metalwork range which consists of joist hangers and truss clips of varying sizes.
EWP LVL is a timber product produced for strength and stability, the layers of veneers are cross bonded, compressed and laminated together under heat and pressure with a moisture-resistant resin.
Our EWP Flooring includes chipboard and orientated strand board options. These flooring types are often placed on ground joists to create the perfect platform floor.
Benefits of i-joists
Steico I-joists are an engineered solution for floor joists, roof members and wall studs. They are fully engineered, and factory produced to give uniform strength, rigidity and weight, out-performing traditional solid wood construction. Steico joists have an LVL flange and high quality HDF (high density fibreboard) web which has a high strength to weight ratio and therefore produces lighter, longer spans combined with quick and easy installation, reducing your build time and increasing efficiency. I-joists are produced under strict quality control, so that natural imperfections are non-existent.
• Reduced thermal bridging
• Longer spans achievable
• Dimensionally stable
• Lightweight
• High load-bearing capacities
• Easy installation of services
• Easy to use with standard woodworking tools
Because I-Joists are linear engineered products, they eliminate the natural defects and the need for over-design. An I-joist has two main parts, the web and flange. The web is sandwiched between a top and bottom flange, creating the “I” shape. I-Joists work similarly to traditional joists but come with an extensive list of benefits.
How do I-Joists work?
How much more time and cost effective are I-Joists?
The "Timber Joist vs I-Joist" infographic below shows the material and time saved by using I-Joists based on an example floor drawing. The number of joists required is less than half with no need for washers and bolts, and a 75% reduction on the number of hangers needed when compared with using timber joists. This saving is further reflected in the install times, a good reason why an increasing number of builds are using I-Joists.
What Fittings and Fixtures do I need for I-Joists?
Where a design is necessary for your I-joists, it will include a full material list for everything required to fit the floor joists. This will include everything from hangers, to noggins, to restraint straps. All materials required will be designed and supplied as part of your order. Incorporating the material list within the design saves time during the installation process as the joist will be supplied as a complete package, so all joists will be cut to length as standard, and fixings provided excluding nails/screws.
