dhengr: I don't think testing the beams in the field would work since if it fails, I will have completely ruined the beam. I don't have much experience with visual grading, but I would expect that the results would be very conservative and of not much use.
Brad085: What non destructive test...
I am going to have some Heavy Timber beams sampled for testing and wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on where the samples should be taken. The samples will need to be about 4"x4"x36" Long. The beams are 11 1/2" x 11 1/2" and span about 12 ft.
Obviously, I am concerned about permanently...