Pros and Cons of Finger Jointed Lumber?

[GabeIBC]

Hey everyone, long time reader first time poster here.

I'm doing a 4 story multi-family apartment complex and due to the shortage in lumber from COVID-19 the contractor is asking to use finger jointed lumber (FJL) in lieu of the Southern Yellow Pine specified. (Project Location Orlando, FL).
I'm reading online and all the manufacturer reports say it's as strong as traditional lumber and other places say it's good but can have some dimensional problems.

My gut feeling is to limit the FJL to interior load-bearing use to avoid bending stress and the resulting tension from wind but I wanted to tap into everyone else's experience in using this product? My other hesitation is with the hurricane uplift strapping (using coiled straps) the glue could be put under direct tension and I haven't been able to get and load values for this. For the shear walls and the header opening we're using continuous rod tie-downs so that's not a factor in this situation.

Thanks!
Gabe

 

[Celt83]

check out this info from the American Wood Council:

https://awc.org/faqs/awc-standards/...nd-edge-glued)-be-substituted-for-sawn-lumber

Seems fire rating can be a big issue.

My Personal Open Source Structural Applications:

https://github.com/buddyd16/Structural-Engineering

Open Source Structural GitHub Group:

https://github.com/open-struct-engineer

 

[molibden]

Don't know about US but in Europe we use finger jointed timber (KVH) for everything. Its more common than traditional lumber.

 

[hokie66]

Have never used finger jointed timber structurally, but I know from personal experience with coated architectural elements exposed to the weather, the joints are weaker than the base timber.

 

[Ron]

You can use on the interior, but would not use on the exterior. You are in a 120mph wind zone, so don't compromise the exterior structure.

 

[Alan CA]

In North America, these are not encountered that much in residential houses. I once encountered them in a house which was struck by a car. The studs had detached from the bottom wood plate, some broken but not a single failure at the glue joints. So, these things are not fragile as they may be thought of. However, we didn't want to replace them with similar. We just used normal studs.