laminated timber beams for joists / bearers

[Curls]

Hi All,
We're commencing plans to build an exposed deck - just wondering if anyone has used or researched the suitability of laminated timber beams as joists / bearers?? How do they hold up in the weather??
Cheers

[SilentButDeadly]

Most laminated timber beams (eg Glu-lam and similar) aren't suitable for exposed situations....it usually says so in their specs. The same certainly goes for laminated plywood product like HyBeam...

...but you wouldn't use them in such a situation primarily because they are expensive compared to the usual alternatives like plain old hardwood for your average build. And if long spans are required for technical reasons then it'd be better and quite possibly cheaper to use steel...

[Spelunx]

Hi All,
We're commencing plans to build an exposed deck - just wondering if anyone has used or researched the suitability of laminated timber beams as joists / bearers?? How do they hold up in the weather??
Cheers

You can get beams for external uses, but they are expensive...


How far do you need to span? You can use two treated pine beams, one either side of the post, which will span a fair distance....

[Curls]

Thanks very much - very sound advice