Getting lots of requests for custom beams now but they will have to be stamped or certified for construction use. 14"x14"x10' beams needed now. Where or what do I need to do to get these beams stamped and graded officialy? Who should I call?
This is going to be a huge market for me. Big beams are the rage right now. Thank for the help.
Interesting, around here we don't need any certification on any wood. Good Luck.
There are agencies that will do the inspection.
http://www.wclib.org/
There are others as well. A place to start. Some are specific to certain species.
That is the grading service I have used. They over see all the graders at the production mills in the area.
I give them a call and with in 30 days the grader will be in the area. They charge by the hr figure 3 hr min. (time on site plus an hr in the office)
When you are sawing these timbers you need to have a good idea of grade as well to minimize rejects.
I tried, once upon a time, to become a softwood grader for just this reason..... Our mill was producing mainly structural specialty timbers--that had a great, desired, looking circ. sawn face, but the building inspectors and architects only wanted graded lumber in their structures..... There were several mills in the area and I figured I could float between them and grade as needed and pick up some extra cash......boy was I disabused of that fantasy! No way! one mill, one grader attached to that mill. There was no way I could afford a grade stamp for just our mill, or one for each mill....Silly really. My plan was genius...genius, I tell ya.
There was a time that you could upsize any ungraded timber by 2" in each direction and it would pass.....doubt the International Building Code allows for that now....
West coast lumber inspectors bureau over sees all the graders working in the mills in their service area and they do regular spot inspections (1 unit) to insure the graders in the mills are grading accurately.
The person doing the spot inspections is the one who comes out when you call for a grader.
At the mill I worked at we had 9 production graders (3 per shift) and 3 QC. The QC would do daily spot inspections as well.
Graders were required to be recirtified as often as electritions. Since I over saw both a sawmill crew and a planer crew I had to go thru all the steps except cert testing, right along with the graders on my crew.
I have to renew mine every 5 years :P
Thanks for the link and info fellas. I found that same place but was not sure if they where the correct ones. I will call them. Good old California making us jump as many hoops as they can.