Tutorial 3 - Metal Bridging and Blocking (10:28 min.)

Version 0.9.7 - 09.23.2024
- Updated the SUBTRACT feature with three other options.
- Added seven advanced options in the Floor tab of the Global Settings.
- Added metal bridging to the Draw and Edit menus.
- Added solid blocking (Lumber and I-Joist) to the Draw and Edit menus.
- Fixed minor bugs in the HTML menus and preset system.

First look at metal bridging (I-joist and Lumber):





Geometrically a lot simpler and more lightweight than the preconfigured component that I made based off of the Simpson IFC model.  I'm using my galvanized texture/material but I may change it slightly.  There are quite a few parameters that one can adjust to customize the look and feel of these metal bridging straps, hopefully that should make things configurable enough for most power users.

As noted per the Simpson literature the crossing straps should not be in direct contact to avoid screeching noises when they move under load.  Hence the default 1/8" gap, but this can be modified as can be seen in the menu.

I've also included a thickness parameter for the straps.  The correct thickness for a 20 gauge strap is probably around 0.035" however I've rounded the default value to an even 0.04".

Adding in the advanced floor options into the Global Settings:



I am working on adding in metal bridging with some associated parameters:



P.S.
I was going to combine the metal bridging with the solid blocking however after some thought I realized there might be cases where you might combine both forms of bracing in one floor (solid blocking and metal bridging). Hence I need a separate module for blocking. Unlike the wall blocking floor blocking may be regular lumber or I-Joist blocking so that further complicates the matter slightly.

The parameters for the blocking module will probably be:

1.) Blocking Type: Lumber/I-Joist

If blocking type is Lumber:

Blocking Width: 1.5 in (default)

Blocking Material: Lumber / PT Lumber / LSL / PSL / LVL etc...

If blocking type is I-Joist

Blocking I-Joist Family:

Blocking I-Joist Type:

other general parameters are:

Row Spacing: 96 in. (default)

Stagger Blocking: Yes/No

Remove Row: empty by default

Quite a few more parameters ( 8 ) to add into a number of files, this will keep me busy for a couple of days at least.

Version 0.9.6 - 09.19.2024
- Fixed a bug with metric floor presets.
- Fixed a bug with the insulation module.

I have had two requests now for metal bridging or bracing so I took about an hour and modeled up a Simpson TB27 between 2X10 joists @ 16" on center.  It actually looks really nice:





However some things immediately jumped out at me:

1.)  I based my TB27 off of the ICF file on Simpson's website so it is dimensionally accurate, however to do that takes quite a bit of time.  Modeling like this is fun but very time consuming and one thing I never have enough of is time. 

2.)  This is the TB27 configured for 2X10's on 16" centers, now think of all the other permutations (including I-Joists).  To make this look right would require a preconfigured component for each case.  The number of permutations is at least 130 or more.



3.)  If you also consider custom offsets of specific joists then it gets even more crazy. 

My thinking is that if I do want to enable something like this it will need to be less detailed geometrically (just a basic representation) and drawn on the fly using an algorithm that checks joist depth and spacing.  Rather than specify the exact part number (ie. TB20, TB27, TB30 etc...), just specify that it is metal bridging.

Version 0.9.5 - 09.18.2024
- Added a joist direction arrow to the draw floor tool.
- Added a "debug mode" parameter to the General tab of the Global Settings.
- Fixed a bug with deck board placement.
- Fixed a bug with the deck board offset parameter.

Version 3.7.1 - 09.17.2024
- Added a vertical offset parameter for in-wall column king studs.



In the case where you have a beam pocket and king studs over top of a door or window this update is critical.  Previously the king studs would simply project to the bottom plate in the wall passing through the opening.  Now you can utilize this extra parameter to vertically offset these king studs the same way the column itself is offset.  Note that the offset can be both positive or negative or zero (default)