Treat You Right
Treatments are more specialised and sustainable than ever and thanks to new verification requirements, also more reliable. Learn more in this edited extract from our treatment special booklet. Professor Jeffrey J Morrell, director of the National Centre for Timber...
Pundemic
Having a laugh is about all that’s left, and it’s better do it at a shaggy dog story than at rubbery wind load figures. By Paul Davis After 2020 went viral faster than anyone thought it could, we are seeing more of the same in 2021. It’s affected everyone’s work, even...
Industry-leading Innovation
Stirling Machinery partners with K&S Pallets to install the first Salvador Push Feed Saw in Australia. Stirling Machinery has announced its appointment as the only official dealer of Italian manufacturer, Salvador machines across Australia, and New Zealand....
Consultation – an obligation or an opportunity?
Sharing information across your teams can also help to build better shared solutions. By Peter Maguire As an employer, you are legally required to consult your employees on matters that significantly affect them whether that has to do with Workplace Health and Safety...
Treat it Right
EWP are timber, just like pine, which means treatment can help deliver better outcomes and longer lifespans for these manufactured products as easily as for light framing timbers. Stuff. If it’s made right, stored, handled and maintained correctly, it will last...
Supply Solutions
At the recent TABMA Conference, industry experts and leaders came together to discuss issues in the Australian timber supply chain. Here’s an edited summary of what they had to say. More than any other issue, supply has dominated industry discussions this year. Fires,...
Panelisation: Part 1
In this ongoing series, we look at the move to panelisation and offsite construction in Australia. This month, we talk with three leading businesses providing panelised solutions. While this story was being written, most Australians went back into lockdown. This is...
Illegal Logging Review
The Australian Government wants input on illegal logging law reforms. Sustainability is one of the key selling notes for the Australian timber industry, with our reputation for demanding environmentally responsible forestry practices both here and for our imported...
Merging to Mainstream
Covid-safe prefabAUS conference moved to 100% virtual delivery. Australia's peak body for off-site construction, prefabAUS, has announced its hybrid conference, Merging to Mainstream, will move to 100% online delivery over four half days due to uncertainty about the...
The Hole Story
Holes and notches in EWP need careful placement, but the guides can be confusing. By Craig Kay. In the recent past, when most floor systems were constructed from sawn solid timber elements, it was standard practice for builders to run bulkheads below floors for...
Fast Nogs
With timber shortages likely to remain a factor for a while, this Multinail product helps you make the best use of your framing timbers, and adds a bit of speed to the process, too. The very short version of this story is this: framing timbers are in high demand at...
Artarmon Joinery
Covid outbreak delays sale of popular Sydney joinery. A lot of plans have been scuttled by the current Sydney Covid outbreak, among them, Matt and Mandy Collin’s for an easy sale of their business at Matt’s retirement. Established in 1994, Artarmon Joinery has been...
Strap and Wrap
Australian-made recycled and 100% recyclable strapping is cutting factories’ waste costs. Around every bundle of timber, and a lot of the products we make from it, is a polyester strap, made of PET. “We were a distributor selling strapping for many years, says Mark...
People First
Building a workplace culture that prioritises safety and personal development has been a core part of AKD’s success. We spoke with Toni Kirkup and Clark Rodger about their work. Outside the timber industry, a lot of clichés still exist. “There’s the joke of old buddy...
It’s The Vibe
Floor joists have limits and there’s a fine art to knowing when they need respecting or can be pushed. In my early twenties my girlfriend and I were helping some friends re-site a ‘Queenslander’ removal house onto their new farm. After the first day, the house was on...
Certified Sustainable
Certification on timber products can tell consumers a lot about what they’re buying, but as an industry, we need to be flagging its value more to our customers. You’ve probably seen the Responsible Wood and PEFC logos on timber products. But how much do you know about...
Know the Market
Despite fires and flood, Coffs Harbour Hardwoods continues to deliver high-quality specialist timbers to customers ranging from bridge builders to aesthetics-driven homeowners. From its Glenreagh village base, west of the city, Coffs Harbour Hardwoods is ideally...
Floor Joist Options
There’s a way out of every problem, but some solutions are better than others. By Paul Davis. Nobody over, say, 25 years old would think that jumping off a dam wall into the base of a gushing spillway was a good idea. In fact, probably only someone who was...
Fast Forward Cassettes
With timber and labour supply constrained, cassettes offer achievable, affordable solutions to major construction problems. Here’s the short version of this article if you don’t have time for the whole thing. “We’re just in the final stages of a big project out at...
3 Good Reasons
Three ways industry super could improve your retirement. By First Super Ever wondered what’s different about Industry SuperFunds? Since being established in the 1980s, industry funds have always had one main driver: putting members first. Here are three major ways...
Sustainable and Strong
For healthy building, fire zones and flood areas, Magnum Board is a one-stop solution. Three of the key requirements owners and builders have for their materials in Australia are ‘copes with fire’, ‘copes with flood’ and ‘healthy for occupants’. We’ve become...
Supply Stories
It’s the main issue of 2021. I asked leaders across the industry to describe where we’re at, how we got here, and what we can do next when it comes to supply. by Donyale Harrison Not every timber product is in short supply right now, but the impacts of those that are...
Software Solutions
Supplier software packages are one easy and accessible way to solve some of the common problems arising from high demand and low supply – and they’re now better than ever. Ernest Rutherford, the New Zealand-born father of nuclear physics, once said “Gentlemen, we have...
At Its Prime
A spot of preparation can deliver a vastly superior result in both sports and timber. By Afzal Laphir, Principal Engineer, Meyer Timber. Sporting stars know better than anyone how to achieve peak performance. They determine when an event is happening and prime...
