“Check” This Out!
The new wood deck repairs throughout your community have been coming along nicely, and the repairs make the decks themselves look almost brand new. However, a few weeks after repairs are finished, you make a startling discovery: the new wood members are beginning to crack! Were the repairs completed improperly? Was subpar wood used? Have you wasted time and money on repairs that will need to be redone? Fortunately, most of the cracks you are seeing in the new wood members are a natural part of the wood’s acclimation process. As “green” (i.e. wet) wood naturally dries over time, it shrinks, causing cracks to form along portions of the wood. A “check” is a crack that occur parallel to the grain of the wood, while a “shake” is a separation of the growth rings within the lumber. While these cracks may appear unsightly, they usually do not affect the structural properties of the wood, unless the check or shake runs through the entire depth of the wood member. Properly acclimating the wood pieces to environmental conditions and specifying higher grade lumber can help minimize this cracking, but green lumber will always display some external cracks as it dries. Also, additional cracks may occur as the wood is exposed to varying environmental conditions throughout the seasons. If you still have concerns about cracks in your wood structures, ETC can help evaluate these cracks and put your mind at ease
Metal guardrails can provide stylish, long-term fall protection for balconies, walkways, garages, and many other elevated structures. While metal guardrails can last almost twice as long as wood guardrails, periodic maintenance is still required to ensure they remain serviceable and do not pose any life-safety hazards due to deterioration of the aging railing components. A few steps taken every few years can allow these vital building components to last well into the future of the building:
Sawn Wood‐ Traditional sawn wood is still the commonly used type of lumber. Almost all structural sawn wood beams originate from softwood tree species, such as Pine or Douglas Fir. Structural sawn lumber is further classified through stress‐gradings, which establish standard working values for properties that can be used to determine the load‐bearing capacity of these members. Typical lumber grades can be seen on the adjacent table. Traditional sawn lumber can be used for almost all structural member, such as joists, beams, posts, etc.
Glue-laminated lumber (also known as Glulam) is a versatile and innovative material widely used in the construction industry and has become increasingly more popular in recent years for its many benefits. Glulam is composed of wood laminations that are bonded together with high-strength adhesives to form a strong member.
While the benefits for glulam beams look to be impressive, the necessity of glulam beams over other engineered lumber beams may not be the most cost-effective solution, as the cost for glulam beams are higher than they are for many other engineered lumber. Deterioration of glulam beams is common due to high humidity areas and water intrusion through improper or unsealed flashings. While glulam beams are often marketed for their ability to be exposed to the natural environment, they are often very susceptible to deterioration due to construction methodologies. Glulam beams are prefabricated to an exact size; therefore, if the beams need to be cut to fit new dimensions, the entire beam can become susceptible to deterioration if the cut portions are not properly protected with a sealer material on-site.
Stroll down any street in Baltimore or Washington, D.C. and you are bound to find numerous brick buildings sporting a fresh coat of paint. The trend of painting brick facades has become popular over the last several years and while painting brick can provide an updated appearance, it may not be the best idea.
Sometimes, differences in construction materials that might seem insignificant to the untrained eye can have long lasting implications and cause headaches down the road. ETC has seen this situation arise plenty of times when evaluating new below-grade drainage systems, specifically regarding the type of piping to be used: corrugated plastic pipes or rigid PVC pipes. Corrugated plastic pipes are thin walled pipes, typically .02” thick, with a series of grooves running parallel to each other along the length of the pipe, while rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes are thicker, ranging from .1” to .5” depending on the diameter and schedule of the pipe, and have smooth inner and outer walls. Corrugated pipes are typically cheaper than PVC pipes and are easier to install and connect, making them a favorite of DIY-ers. However, in our experience, the increased flexibility and installation ease comes at a great sacrifice to the durability and effectiveness of the drainage system.
When most property owners think about ventilation upgrades, they often consider installing new windows and doors or replacing the existing HVAC equipment. However, they often forget to consider one of the most important locations within their building: the crawlspace. Improper ventilation can allow for humid air to become stagnant within the crawlspace, spurring microbial growth and accelerating the deterioration of both wood and concrete structural elements. Given the difficulty accessing the crawlspace, as well as the typical space restrictions, crawlspace structural repairs can be quite costly and lengthy, but proper ventilation upgrades can help curtail these repairs.
Wood-framed balconies can look sharp on a building, not to mention the comfortable outdoor spaces they can provide. One of the most important ways to protect your wood balconies and decks is to prevent water from deteriorating the framing. Deterioration typically occurs when water cannot properly drain and becomes trapped against wood surfaces. Consequently, this type of deterioration oftentimes occurs where we cannot see it!
As the hurricane season is fast approaching, it makes sense to have an architect and engineer look at possible areas of 
