Identify Engineered Wood Products
Topic 3 – Identify Engineered Wood Products
Laminated Veneer Lumber
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is a manufactured wood product that is constructed much like plywood. Thin veneers (1/10” – 3/16” in thickness) are pressed together to produce a product that is used for structural applications in a building. Unlike plywood, the veneers are oriented in the same direction. They are compressed during the manufacturing process to produce a highly dense product. They are commonly used as lintels over exterior wall openings and in floor and roof framing applications.
Figure 10: a close up view of an LVL
Parallel Strand Lumber
Figure 11: a cut-out of a PSL
Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) is another manufactured product that is made from veneers of douglas fir and southern pine. However, instead of laminating the veneers, they are clipped into strands up to 8’ long and 1/8” thick. During this process, all defects in the veneers are removed. The strands are glued and pressed together to produce a strong, consistent product that can be used for beams or posts.
Laminated Strand Lumber
Laminated strand lumber (LSL) (see right) has an appearance similar to OSB. Strands are cut from a log, dried, and pressed together with a resin in a parallel orientation. This process does not produce a product as strong as either LVLs or PSLs but can still be used in light-duty lintel applications. LSLs are commonly used as rim boards in engineered floor systems.
Glu-Laminated lumber
Read chapter 8: Glue-Laminated Lumber in Carpentry
Review Questions
Use chapter 5 and 8 of Carpentry to answer the following questions.
- How does LVL lumber differ from plywood?
- Where are LVLs commonly used?
- Which is stronger, PSL or LSL?
- What is lam layup?
- Where are compression and tension lams used in glue laminated lumber?
