December already: what a lot's happened since I last posted a Blog! And plywood has been the flavour of the month for at least the past five months...
I've been out to audit a plywood mill in Indonesia: and TFT Woodexperts has now extended its Diamond Marking Scheme to SP 101 Plywood from Indonesia (see our website for an update on that). At home, we've investigated three or four cases of "rubbish" plywood purporting to be either "WBP" or "Marine Ply": and - surprise surprise! - they were not anywhere near the specfication needed to do the job.
I have also given a presentation to the Contract Flooring Association about plywood and what to look for as being a good "model specification" for plywood used as an overlayment on old wood floors. (If you'd like to know more, contact the CFA.)
I haven't much time to write more: but watch out for my articles on plywood in the upcoming issues of the Contract Flooring Journal. And if you need to know more about plywood, or wood in general: don't forget my new book "Wood in Construction: How to avoid costly mistakes" - it makes an ideal Christmas Present!
In the meantime, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our TFT Woodexperts readers!
Jim Coulson
Director
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Friday, 3 August 2012
Catching up and Naming Names
It's August now - time for at least a "monthly" Blog...since July seems to have disappeared without trace!
Some interesting stuff has been dealt with by TFT in the past few weeks: some of it is rather "hush hush" and Confidential stuff, relating to Expert Witness matters that I can't go into here (otherwise I'd have to shoot all of you!); but some of it involved a lot of very good Wood Science and Timber Technology.
Here's question which has come out of our recent work: has anyone heard of a timber called "VEHO"?
We've had a sample sent here for analysis (working properties, etc), which we've done all the tests on; but we can't find any mention of it anywhere under that name - not even on the Web, which is most unusual. The Timber Trade, of course, has a long-established reputation for making up names to help them to sell unusual timbers: but why "Veho"? It doesn't sound like anything else that is already well-known: so why not call it by the name it is usually known by, where it comes from? - which we are told is West Africa. (If it were known by that name in Africa, then SOMEBODY would have written something about it, and posted it onto the Web by now....)
You are probably aware of some names of timbers as used by the Trade in the past, to help promote a wood that was "new" at the time - and which was not what it appeared to be, judging by its "given" Trade Name. "Parana Pine", for example, is not a true Pine at all. Or "Western Red Cedar", which is not related to Cedar (but at least it's a softwood); and "South American Cedar" - which not only isn't a true Cedar, it's also a hardwood! Then there's "Tasmanian Oak" (really a Eucalyptus) and "Douglas Fir" (not a true Fir)...I could go on!
Which is why - to return to my original question - I firmly believe that "Veho" is a made-up name...so if anyone out there in the Blogosphere can help to find out what it REALLY is, I'd be very grateful. Thanks!
Jim Coulson, Director, TFT Woodexperts
Some interesting stuff has been dealt with by TFT in the past few weeks: some of it is rather "hush hush" and Confidential stuff, relating to Expert Witness matters that I can't go into here (otherwise I'd have to shoot all of you!); but some of it involved a lot of very good Wood Science and Timber Technology.
Here's question which has come out of our recent work: has anyone heard of a timber called "VEHO"?
We've had a sample sent here for analysis (working properties, etc), which we've done all the tests on; but we can't find any mention of it anywhere under that name - not even on the Web, which is most unusual. The Timber Trade, of course, has a long-established reputation for making up names to help them to sell unusual timbers: but why "Veho"? It doesn't sound like anything else that is already well-known: so why not call it by the name it is usually known by, where it comes from? - which we are told is West Africa. (If it were known by that name in Africa, then SOMEBODY would have written something about it, and posted it onto the Web by now....)
You are probably aware of some names of timbers as used by the Trade in the past, to help promote a wood that was "new" at the time - and which was not what it appeared to be, judging by its "given" Trade Name. "Parana Pine", for example, is not a true Pine at all. Or "Western Red Cedar", which is not related to Cedar (but at least it's a softwood); and "South American Cedar" - which not only isn't a true Cedar, it's also a hardwood! Then there's "Tasmanian Oak" (really a Eucalyptus) and "Douglas Fir" (not a true Fir)...I could go on!
Which is why - to return to my original question - I firmly believe that "Veho" is a made-up name...so if anyone out there in the Blogosphere can help to find out what it REALLY is, I'd be very grateful. Thanks!
Jim Coulson, Director, TFT Woodexperts
Friday, 15 June 2012
Musings on Wood Problems and the Lack of Good Advice
Here at TFT Woodexperts, an incredible variety of topics find their way to us, for our consultants to give their Expert views on, in relation to wood and wood-based products. In the past few months alone, we've been asked to inspect and report on the following range of very different things to do with wood:
Laminate flooring in a restaurant; hoardings and signage used at a construction site; roofing battens imported from Estonia; a cracked butcher's block (made from Beech); decaying oak decking in a forest garden walkway; problems with plywood used for concrete formwork; keruing boards for lorry trailers; the quality of a consignment of Siberian Larch; and graded softwood components destined for a cooling tower in the Middle East. And that doesn't include the work we do on the ongoing Quality Schemes that we've set up in the UK, Latvia & Estonia.
It is perhaps surprising (though not to us at Woodexperts!) just how many different uses there are which wood gets put to: and of course, each of those hundreds of uses has the potential to go wrong at some point...which is why it pays to get the right advice FIRST - before you start doing the job!
Jim Coulson
Director, TFT Woodexperts
Laminate flooring in a restaurant; hoardings and signage used at a construction site; roofing battens imported from Estonia; a cracked butcher's block (made from Beech); decaying oak decking in a forest garden walkway; problems with plywood used for concrete formwork; keruing boards for lorry trailers; the quality of a consignment of Siberian Larch; and graded softwood components destined for a cooling tower in the Middle East. And that doesn't include the work we do on the ongoing Quality Schemes that we've set up in the UK, Latvia & Estonia.
It is perhaps surprising (though not to us at Woodexperts!) just how many different uses there are which wood gets put to: and of course, each of those hundreds of uses has the potential to go wrong at some point...which is why it pays to get the right advice FIRST - before you start doing the job!
Jim Coulson
Director, TFT Woodexperts
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Open Day - New Book - 21 Years of TFT!
It's managed to get to the end of May - and I still haven't posted anything about our Open Day, held at the end of April! We had a good number of visitors: both friends/colleagues and professional contacts; and sold about 20 copies of my new Book (signed by me!) - "Wood in Construction - How to Avoid Costly Mistakes".
The reason for the Open Day was mainly to celebrate 21 years of trading as Technology For Timber (now trading under the slightly altered name of "TFT Woodexperts" - which better reflects our Web Domain Name).
In that time, TFT has dealt with just about everything you can think of, made from Wood, Timber or Wood-Based Materials: Joinery, Fitted Kitchens, Internal Doors, External Doors, Windows, Hardwood Floors, Softwood Flooring, Laminate Floors, Veneers, Engineered Timber, Glulam, Old Beams, New Floor Joists, Roofs in Swimming Pools, Roofs in Cathedrals, Plywood - both indoors and out, MDF in shopfitting, Chipboard in Floors and Flat Roofs, Potato Boxes, Pallets: you name it - we've inspected it and reported on it!
I hope we'll still be here in another 21 years: still helping Builders and Building Professionals to get the best out of Wood: or finding out why things have gone wrong...but as I say in my Book: "It's never the fault of the wood!"
The reason for the Open Day was mainly to celebrate 21 years of trading as Technology For Timber (now trading under the slightly altered name of "TFT Woodexperts" - which better reflects our Web Domain Name).
In that time, TFT has dealt with just about everything you can think of, made from Wood, Timber or Wood-Based Materials: Joinery, Fitted Kitchens, Internal Doors, External Doors, Windows, Hardwood Floors, Softwood Flooring, Laminate Floors, Veneers, Engineered Timber, Glulam, Old Beams, New Floor Joists, Roofs in Swimming Pools, Roofs in Cathedrals, Plywood - both indoors and out, MDF in shopfitting, Chipboard in Floors and Flat Roofs, Potato Boxes, Pallets: you name it - we've inspected it and reported on it!
I hope we'll still be here in another 21 years: still helping Builders and Building Professionals to get the best out of Wood: or finding out why things have gone wrong...but as I say in my Book: "It's never the fault of the wood!"
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
21 Years of TFT!
Now we are in March 2012, it is rapidly coming up to the 21st anniversary of the founding of Technology For Timber; which happened on 31st March 1991. Since that date, the practice has evolved from a Sole Trader, via a Partnership, to a fully Limited Company - and now a change of Trading Name, to "TFT Woodexperts".
We have also recently moved offices, to cope with our expanded personnel - we now have a structural engineer on staff, as well as qualified Wood Scientists and Certification Auditors. We are still based in Ripon; but if you click onto our website, you can see that we undertake work in all parts of the world - not just Yorkshire! Have a look at some of our interesting Case Studies, to get a flavour of the sorts of projects we get involved in.
The work of TFT Woodexperts is always varied, but it always involves wood, in some shape or form: or the things which go towards making wood do its job better - such as training or 3rd-party Certification of wood-based products. We also undertake Expert Witness investigations and produce Reports to help resolve disputes where wood-based products have been the subject of litigation. But I have one very strong philosophy in life: "It is NEVER the fault of the Wood!"
Jim Coulson - Director, TFT Woodexperts
We have also recently moved offices, to cope with our expanded personnel - we now have a structural engineer on staff, as well as qualified Wood Scientists and Certification Auditors. We are still based in Ripon; but if you click onto our website, you can see that we undertake work in all parts of the world - not just Yorkshire! Have a look at some of our interesting Case Studies, to get a flavour of the sorts of projects we get involved in.
The work of TFT Woodexperts is always varied, but it always involves wood, in some shape or form: or the things which go towards making wood do its job better - such as training or 3rd-party Certification of wood-based products. We also undertake Expert Witness investigations and produce Reports to help resolve disputes where wood-based products have been the subject of litigation. But I have one very strong philosophy in life: "It is NEVER the fault of the Wood!"
Jim Coulson - Director, TFT Woodexperts
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
2012 - The Year of theTiling Batten!
Last time I Blogged, I said I'd mention what we at TFT are doing in respect of Tiling Battens - not a very glamorous subject, on the face of it: but one that has suddenly reached prominence - if you're a roofer! Grading tiling battens is nothing new in itself: BS 5534 has had rules for grading battens for more than a decade. But up until the end of last year, very few people ever bothered to use "BS 5534 battens". Then the NHBC stepped in...
Late in 2011, the National House Building Council decreed that only BS 5534-compliant battens would be permitted for use on any of their sites: and suddenly, everyone was asking, "What's a graded batten?" or "How do we grade them?", and then, "Where can I get some?" (A cynic might ask what roofers had been using up until then...but I'm a realist and I know what they were using - any old lengths of 1" by 2" timber!)
So what's the current situation? Well, we at TFT Woodexperts have now helped two sawmills in the Baltics (one in Latvia and one in Estonia) to produce properly-graded BS 5534 tiling battens, with third-party Quaity Assurance - in the form of the TFT "Diamond Mark" on each piece. (For an idea of what this looks like, and for some information on our QA servies, have a look at the TFT Woodexperts website.)
For us at TFT Woodexperts, 2011 was "the year of the Scaffold Board" - since we had over a dozen cases of failed boards to investigate, where injuries had resulted - and it looks as though 2012 will be "The Year of the Tiling Batten"!
Jim Coulson - Director, TFT Woodexperts
Late in 2011, the National House Building Council decreed that only BS 5534-compliant battens would be permitted for use on any of their sites: and suddenly, everyone was asking, "What's a graded batten?" or "How do we grade them?", and then, "Where can I get some?" (A cynic might ask what roofers had been using up until then...but I'm a realist and I know what they were using - any old lengths of 1" by 2" timber!)
So what's the current situation? Well, we at TFT Woodexperts have now helped two sawmills in the Baltics (one in Latvia and one in Estonia) to produce properly-graded BS 5534 tiling battens, with third-party Quaity Assurance - in the form of the TFT "Diamond Mark" on each piece. (For an idea of what this looks like, and for some information on our QA servies, have a look at the TFT Woodexperts website.)
For us at TFT Woodexperts, 2011 was "the year of the Scaffold Board" - since we had over a dozen cases of failed boards to investigate, where injuries had resulted - and it looks as though 2012 will be "The Year of the Tiling Batten"!
Jim Coulson - Director, TFT Woodexperts
Monday, 6 February 2012
Long Time, No Blog!
I've been sort of busy lately. Since TFT's award of the National Skills Academy "Accredited Training Provider" plaque, I've been around the UK and also overseas.
The most intersting trip was in December, when I went to Hong Kong for a week, to help with a new Heritage Project out there in the former British Colony. Because HK is now all glitzy glass and concrete high-rise buildings, they've rather lost their former expertise in building with timber: and so they needed specialist help when it came to restoring a low-rise, timber-roofed Community Centre on Ma Wan Island, in Hong Kong Harbour. You can see a case-study about it on the TFT Woodexperts website.
I'm still quite busy with all sorts of things: but I hope to be able to catch up with my Blogging during February: when I will tell you what we've been doing lately in respect of Roofing Battens...
Keep reading! - Jim Coulson
The most intersting trip was in December, when I went to Hong Kong for a week, to help with a new Heritage Project out there in the former British Colony. Because HK is now all glitzy glass and concrete high-rise buildings, they've rather lost their former expertise in building with timber: and so they needed specialist help when it came to restoring a low-rise, timber-roofed Community Centre on Ma Wan Island, in Hong Kong Harbour. You can see a case-study about it on the TFT Woodexperts website.
I'm still quite busy with all sorts of things: but I hope to be able to catch up with my Blogging during February: when I will tell you what we've been doing lately in respect of Roofing Battens...
Keep reading! - Jim Coulson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)