Wrote off LVL beams for years until a site visit in Boise changed my mind

I always thought LVL beams were overkill for most commercial jobs. Then last month I toured a 3-story office building going up near the airport where they used them for the entire roof structure. The general contractor showed me how they eliminated 4 support columns compared to traditional lumber, opening up the floor plan below. I still think they're expensive, but now I get why some owners request them. Has anyone else had a project where switching materials actually saved money in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

leep898d ago

Yeah, Abby, you said "you gotta wonder if opening up the floor plan is worth that kind of premium" and that's kinda the thing that gets me. It's like when you buy a more expensive pair of boots that last five years instead of cheap ones that fall apart in six months, people only look at the upfront price tag and forget about the bigger picture. In my experience, owners who spend a little extra on LVL beams are usually the same ones who don't want to deal with headaches down the road, like callbacks because a floor creaks or a wall shifts. I've seen a building where they used regular lumber and had to go back and beef up the columns later, which cost way more than just doing it right the first time. So I guess it's not always about the material cost itself, it's about what you're paying to avoid later on.

abbychen8d ago

So the LVL beams saved them four columns, okay but what did that actually cost? I've walked jobs where they swapped in LVL and the material bill jumped like 30 percent easy. You gotta wonder if opening up the floor plan is worth that kind of premium, especially when the owner's already sweating the budget. And then there's the install time, these guys are way heavier to handle, so you need extra hands or a crane for longer spans. I just don't see the savings adding up unless you're in some crazy structural situation where steel would be even worse. Not saying I'm totally against them now, but I need to see the final numbers, not just the column count.