Principles of Timber Design for Architects and Builders

A well written book with easy to follow examples. This was my first experience with timber design and I found the book very useful as a practicing engineer. The examples were complete and easy to follow and apply.

I used the book as a textbook for a course on structural wood design (the term "Timber" design is a misnomer that is commonly used because it has been the traditional term for engineered structural wood design). The books covers beams, columns, connections, trusses, laminated timber, and plywood.The book takes a practical but thorough approach to the design of wood structures - avoiding an overly theoretical approach. Although the title specifies "architects and builders" it is appropriate for engineers too, and to get the most use out of the book, the reader should have a background in mechanics of materials. One particularly timely topic covered is the behavior and design of diaphragms and shearwalls, which is the most common method of resisting wind and earthquake forces. The book includes many useful tables - something that many other books leave for the reader to collect from end-of-the-chapter references. Overall, in my opinion, this is one of the best - if not the best - book currently available on structural wood design.