Loren Coe wrote:

my brother built a house with engineered timbers, the "I" beam type, and
due to his own lack of knowledge, had big problems with record snow loads
(in Montana). for this one reason, if i were building a home of any
size (read $$$$) or using engineered beams, i would have an architect
sign off before starting. just mho. good luck! --Loren

The house I am designing uses 11-7/8 TJI-PRO 150 floor joists.
Deciding on the size and span was the easy part. Turns out there is a
lot to know about how to install them in terms of blocking under
bearing walls, blocking for overhangs. filler blocks, and nailing
schedules. Did I mention nailing schedules? Very important.

The advantages are huge - they are straight, flat, can be long enough
to span the width of the whole house in one shot, and don't warp and
twist while drying out because they are dry to start. The other side
is that they are much less forgiving of improper handling and
installation than lumber.

I spent quite a bit of time detailing the floor framing drawing. I'm
not designing the roof trusses - that will be done by the truss
supplier - but I do want to know what he is using for a design snow
load, and may increase it. The walls are conventional stud walls (2 x
6 for exterior and bearing walls 2 x 4 for the rest). I didn't want
to have the first SIP house in the township.

I will have a PE review the drawings, but I'm not worried about
structural adequacy.

Fitch