The Blue Chip Design Advantage
The Storm Frame Plus© system of interconnected building components will allow you and us to sleep well at night with the knowledge that your building has been designed by industry-leading standards. From the largest truss, to the smallest connection, we engage in complete ‘load path design’, insuring the transfer of the applied wind or snow loads from component to component until they are dissipated into the ground.
There is simply more lumber and bracing in the Storm Frame Plus© system than any competitor offers. Better bracing means better performance, longer building life, and greater structural integrity.
Load Design
Every component of a Blue Chip Structures building is designed to meet or exceed International Building Code requirements for applied wind and snow loads.
Minimum of 30 psf uniform roof snow load for all locations, regardless of the fact that the building code will allow less in some areas. Extra load capacity equals extra protection for you and your assets.
Wall Bracing
Wall bracing is utilized in a variety of forms to insure that loads from higher points are properly transferred to the ground. In addition, wall bracing insures that your building stays square during construction and for the life of the project.
Post Foundation
Posts are embedded in the ground a minimum of 48” to the top of a poured concrete footing and surrounded with a wood collar or concrete collar with a structural re-bar attachment to the post to resist any lateral and uplift loads. Only poured-in-place, pre-mixed concrete is utilized in our footings to insure a solid foundation which doesn’t rely on soil leveling or soil moisture to provide proper building support. Where a poured concrete wall is required, posts are fastened to the top of the wall with heavy-duty structural anchorage.
Truss Bracing
The Storm Frame Plus© system incorporates more truss bracing lumber into the roof system than any other pre-engineered building supplier in the marketplace.
X-Bracing
X-Bracing (in red color) is critical in stabilizing the roof system at the ends of the building as well as at interior locations. Our ‘in-plane’ bracing system insures a direct connection from brace to truss web without the use of complicated connections.
Lateral and Diagonal Bracing
Lateral and diagonal bracing (in yellow and blue color respectively) restrains truss chords, and truss webs from buckling stresses associated with the large loads a truss is designed to carry. Blue Chip Structures overlapping lateral brace design creates extra nailing points for additional load transfer from one brace to another.
Glue Laminated Posts
Blue Chip Structures, Inc. uses Rigidply Rafters, Inc. Glulam Posts in all of our building systems. Backed by Rigidply’s 50 Year Warranty, our glue laminated posts simply outperform the competition. Testing by Penn State University and South Dakota State University have confirmed the superior strength of Rigidply Rafters, Inc. Glulam Posts as compared to the competition’s nail-laminated columns and 6×6 posts.
All glue laminated posts used in below-grade applications are preservative treated before gluing with a 0.60 pcf CCA formulation having a history of successful “no decay” testing and in-place performance dating back more than 70 years.
Pre-engineered Trusses
Trusses are manufactured to the most current Truss Plate Institute standards out of the highest quality Southern Yellow Pine and Spruce-Pine-Fir lumber and high-strength Mitek steel truss plates. Trusses are designed by an experienced staff of engineers who tailor each truss to meet your specific needs of style and shape. Our 4’ o.c. or less standard truss spacing guarantees a rigid roof system and efficient construction in the field; allowing the contractor to save time and allowing you to save money.
Custom Connections
From the smallest nail to the largest beam pocket, we design your building with the most efficient and accurate connections available to guarantee the integrity of the structure.