Post and Beam

Construction
A Presentation
By the
Canadian Wood Council

Canadian Conseil
Wood
canadien
Council du bois

Earlysettlersintroducedtheconceptofpostandbeamconstructionin
NorthAmericaalthoughthesystemdatesfromtheearliestbuildingsof
Greece.

Basically,thepostandbeamsystemisaskeletalframeworkofdecking,
beamsandpostssupportedonafoundation.Itissuitableforanylocation
inCanada.

Thepostsandbeamsareusuallyspacedwellapart;morethan600millimetres
bydefinition,butusually1200millimetresormore.TheNationalBuilding
CodeofCanadarequiresengineeringdesignofallstructuralmembersspaced
morethan600mmapart.

Wooddeckingisoftenusedforthefloorsandroofs,spanningbetween
beams.Conventionalwoodframeconstruction,however,canalsobe
usedbetweenthepostsandbeams,withstuds,joistsandrafters
supportingthesheathingandsubfloor.

Infact,postandbeamconstructionissometimescombinedwithconventional
woodframeconstruction.Smallmembersareusedatclosespacinginwood
frameconstruction;ie.nomorethan600millimetresapartandsometimesat300
but,moreoften,400millimetrespacing.

Fasterectionisanotherfeatureofpostandbeamconstruction.Since
therearefewmembersandjoints,theframeworkissimpletoprecut
andassemble.Infillpanelscanbefabricatedintheshopandinserted
quicklyintotheframework.

Allstructuralmembersshouldbedesignedtocarrytheimposedloads:
snow,windandliveanddeadloads.Strengthanddeflectionlimits
establishedbybuildingcodes,orknownbyexperiencetobegoodpractice,
mustbeobserved.

Specialattentionmustbepaidtowindbracingandupliftbecausethereare
fewframingmembersinpostandbeamconstruction.Wallsorpartitionpanels
canbeprovidedatappropriateintervals,connectedtothemainframingand
maderigidbydiagonalbracingorsheathingtogiveadequateracking
resistance.Theycanbedesignedtoactasshearwalls.

Postandbeamframingcanbesupportedonfootingsorcontinuous
foundationwalls,designedtocarrytheimposedloads.Adequateair
spacesshouldbeleftaroundthewoodmembersforventilation.Ifdecay
conditionscannotbeavoided,thewoodshouldbepressuretreated.

Polescanalsobeusedtosupportpostandbeamstructures,withtheend
ofthepoleextendingintothegroundtoactasapile.Thepolesare
designedasroundcolumnsinaccordancewithCSA086.Iffrontingon
water,thepilescanextendtosupportbelowwaterlevel.Thepoles,of
course,mustbepressuretreatedaccordingtoCSAstandardstoprevent
decay.

Thepolescanbeextendedupintothebuildingtoserveastheposts,but
theymustbedesignedtocarryallimposedloads.Poleconstructionis
especiallyeffectiveonhillyorotherwiseunusablesites,orwherehighwater
inspring,orfloods,couldcauseproblems.

Inadditiontohomes,
manyagricultural
buildingsarebuiltusing
poleconstruction,inthe
postandbeamstyle.

Foragivenspeciesandgradeofbeam,sizeswilldependonlengthofspan,spacing
betweenbeams,magnitudeofimposedloadsanddeflectionlimits.Deflectionlimitswill
dependonintendeduseofthebuildingormemberandappearancerequirements.For
example,ifeasilycrackedsurfacessuchasgypsumandplasteraresupportedbythe
beam,allowabledeflectionshouldbelessthanforwooddecking.TheNationalBuilding
CodeofCanadaprovidesdesignguidelines.

Postsandbeamscanbemadeof:
1sawnlumber,
builtupmembersmadefrompiecesoflumber,nailedtogether,
gluedlaminatedtimber,
plywoodandlumber,or
poles

Lengthsoflumberavailablewilldependonspeciesandlocation.Generally,
lumberinwesternCanadaisreadilyavailableinlengthsupto6.10metres;in
easternCanada,inlengthsupto4.88metres.Longerlengthscanbeobtained
onspecialorder,butunitcostsmayincrease.

Forsmallersizes,anyspeciesoflumbercanbechosen,butforlargersizesit
maybenecessarytoselectawesternspecies,suchasDouglasFir,Western
LarchorPacificCoastHemlock.Treesfromthewestgenerallygrowlarger
andtallerthanthoseintherestofCanada.Theyyieldlargersizesoflumber,
butaresoldacrossCanada.

Designersshouldspecifyagradeoflumberthatisreadilyavailable.Thetop
grademaynotbestockedatretaillumberyardsandsomegradessuchas
selectstructural,arenotoftengradedbymanufacturers.Structurallight
framingisoftensoldasNo.2andBetter,amixofNo.1andNo.2grades.A
minimumofsizesandgradeswillminimizeconfusionatthejobsite.

Ifstoredoutside,lumbershouldbestackedproperly,withspacesforaircirculation
betweenlayersandacoveroverthepile.Unseasonedmembersshouldnotbeused
inabuildingthatisclosedinquicklyandheated.Tooquickdryingcanresultin
developmentofchecksorsplits.Largesizesoflumberarealwaysmanufactured
unseasonedanddryingtakesplaceaftermanufacture.Theselargemembersshould
beseasonedslowlytominimizecheckingandtwisting.

Insomecases,itmaybedesirabletobuildupbeamsorpostsusingsmall,readily
availabledimensionlumber,nailedorboltedtogether.Certaindesignguidelinesmustbe
closelyfollowed,butpresentnoproblem.Thismethodofassemblyalsopermitstheuse
ofspacedbeamsandpostswithgoodinterlockingjointsbetweenmembers.Smaller
piecesoflumberareeasytohandleandeasytoobtainseasoned.Services,suchas
electricalwiring,canbeplacedbetweenmembersofspacedbeams.

Manufactureofgluedlaminatedtimbertakesplaceintheshopunderspecially
controlledtemperatureandmoistureconditionstoensurethatthegluebondisat
leastasstrongasthewooditself.Asystemofqualitycontrol,conductedinaccordance
withCSAstandards,helpsensurethatastructurallyreliableanddurableendproduct
isprovided.Here,aworkerischeckingthemoisturecontentoftheglulamstockprior
tomanufacture.

Gluedlaminatedtimbercanbefabricatedincurved,taperedorstraight
shapes,andinmanysizesandlengths.Mostmembersarecustommadefor
specificjobssowillneedtobeorderedinadvance.Generally,laminated
memberscostmorethanequivalentsizesawnlumbermembers,although
theyarealsostronger,resultinginlongerspans.

Plywood,inconjunctionwithlumber,canbeusedtobuildplywoodwebbeams,either
inaboxorIshape.Plywoodwebbeamsarelight,efficientandmadeofreadily
availablematerial.Beamsmaybeassembledwithnailsorglue,orboth,andmaybe
madeeitheronsiteorinafactory.Gluingmustbecarriedoutunderclosely
controlledconditionstoensurethatthegluebondisatleastasstrongasthewood.

Ifpoleconstructionisemployedforthefoundation,thepolescanbe
extendedintothehousetoactastheposts,ortheycanbestoppedatthe
superstructure.Thepolesmustbepressuretreatedwithpreservativesin
accordancewithCSA080topreventdecay.

Roofsandfloorscanbebuiltusingexposeddeckingorconventional
sheathedjoistandrafterconstructionwithafinishedceiling.Theexposed
decking,however,lendsitselfbesttopostandbeamconstructionsinceit
issoattractive.

Structurallumberdeckingcaneitherbetongueandgrooveplank
decking,withthewidefacelaidhorizontal,orlaminateddecking,made
ofdimensionlumberlaidonedgeandspikedtogether.Bothtypesof
deckingarecommerciallyavailableinawiderangeofspeciesandsizes.

Plankdeckingisavailableinthreethicknesses,38,64and89millimetres.The38mm
thickdeckinghasasingletongueandgroovetotransferloadsbetweenplanks.The
64and89mmdeckinghasadoubletongueandgroovebecauseoftheheavierloads
tobesharedbythepieces,thematerialwithadoubletongueandgrooveis
predrilledwithlateral6mmdiameterholes750millimetresoncentre.Thisallows
eachpiecetobenailedtotheadjacentonewith200mmspikes.

Tongueandgrooveendjointsormetalsplinejointscanbeused
atendjointstoimproveloadtransferatthatlocation.

Theundersideofplankdeckingisusuallyleftexposed,witharegular
"v"joint.Otherpatternsareavailablefor64and89mmplanks,
however,suchasgroovedorstriatedfinishes,roundedoreased
joints,wirebrushfinishesthatemphasizethegrain,oracoustical
grooves.

Onlytwogradesofplankdeckingaremanufactured,selectgradeandcommercial
grade.Selectgradeisonlyabout10to20%strongerandstifferthancommercial
grade,buthasabetterappearance.Therefore,selectgradeisusuallyusedinhigh
classconstructionwheregoodstrengthandfineappearancearedesired,suchas
homes,schools,restaurantsandchurches.Commercialgradeisoftenusedin
warehouses,servicestationsorstructureswithaceilingunderneath.

Laminateddeckingisoftenusedforheavilyloadedfloorsinindustrialand
storagebuildingsandforramps,wharvesandbridges.Whenappearanceis
notafactor,itispopularforstandardfloorandroofconstruction.

Dimensionlumberforlaminateddeckingisgenerally38mminthickness
withwidthsvaryingbetween64and286mms.Occasionally,64mmthick
lumberisused.Thislumberneednotbekilndried,unlesssospecified,
becauseshrinkageislesscriticalthanforplankdecking.

Laminateddeckingisnailedtogetheratmaximumspacingsof450mmand
maximumenddistanceof100mm,withaminimumnaillengthoftwicethe
plankthickness.Deckinglengthsareusuallyprovidedinrandomoddoreven
lengths.Specificlengthscanbeordered,butdeliverytimewillprobablybe
longerandtheunitpricemaybehigher.

Sinceplankdeckingandlaminateddeckingareusuallysoldinrandomlengths,a
controlledrandompatternisnormallyfollowedwhenlayingthedeckingoverthreeor
morespans.Thisismoreconvenientandeconomicalthanusingdeckingofuniform
length.Themaximumbendingmomentisthesameasforasimplespanbutthe
maximumdeflectionisonlyaboutthreequartersofthedeflectionforasimplespan.For
lightloadsandlongspans,deflectionwillusuallygovern.

Deckingcanalsobelaidinsimplespanortwospancontinuouspatterns,but
thelengthswillneedtobeuniform.Inaddition,beamswillhavetobe
spacedtosuitthedeckinglength,orthedeckingcuttosuitthebeam
spacings.

Iffinishflooringisappliedoverdeckingitshouldbelaidatrightanglesto
thedecking,usingthesameprocedureasforconventionalconstruction.If
heavyconcentratedloadsoccur,additionalframingmaybeneeded
beneaththeplankstohelpcarrytheloadstothebeams.

Loadbearingpartitions,iftheyoccur,shouldbeplacedoverthebeamsand
thebeamsshouldbedesignedtocarrytheloads.Orsupplementarybeams
canbeplacedinthefloorframingarrangement.

Usually,however,partitionsarenonloadbearinginpostandbeam
construction.Iftheyareplacedatrightanglestothedecking,no
supplementaryframingisneededfornonloadbearingpartitionsifcalculations
showthatthedeckingwillsupportthedeadloadofthepartition.

Butiftheyareplacedparalleltotheplanks,theyrequireadditionalsupport
tocarrytheirweighttothemainbeams.Thiscanbeachievedbyplacinga
beamunderthepartition,eitheraboveorbelowthedecking.

Ifopeningsoccurinthepartition,abeammustalwaysbeplacedunder
thedecking.Thebeamcanbeconnectedtothemainbeambymetal
hangers.

Allowancemustbemadeformovementaroundtheperimeterofthe
panels,suchasbeamsdeflectingattopandbottomofthepanel.Frames
shouldbedesignedtotakecareofthismovement,particularlywhere
thereisglass,sothatnodamagewilloccur.Jointsshouldbeairtightto
sealtheframe.

ThehigherRvaluecanalsobeachievedbyaddingrigidinsulationtothe
outsideofthestudsorpostsorbyusingfurringorstrappingonthestudsor
postsandaddingadditionalinsulationinthecavity.

Rigidinsulation,whichisoftenusedwithplankdeckingroofs,isusuallylaidonthe
uppersideofthedeckandbeddedinmastic.Onsteeperroofs,whereslope
exceeds3in12,theinsulationshouldbeheldbymechanicalfastenings.Avapour
barrierisplacedatthewarmfaceoftheinsulation,thicknessoftheinsulationwill
dependonthe"R"valueneededforthatarea.

Thereisawidearrayofmetalfastenersforuseinwoodconstruction
nails,staples,screws,lightmetalconnectors,metalconnectorplates,
bolts,lagscrews,timberconnectorsandtimberrivets.

Therearetwomaintypesoflightmetalconnectors framinganchorsand
joisthangers.Theyareusuallyusedwheregreaterstrengthandstiffnessare
neededthancanbeprovidedbynailsalone,makingthemidealforpostand
beamconstructionwheremembersarespacedwellapart.

Butmanyothermetalfittingsareused,suchaspostcapsandanchors,straps
andnailonplates,ifrequiredtocarrydesignloads,manufacturers
recommendationsshouldbefollowed.Detailsaboutotherfastenersusedin
woodconstructionaregiveninanotheraudiovisualprogramcalledWood
Connections.