The debate over using engineered lumber vs traditional stick framing for my house build in Denver

I'm about to break ground on a custom home in Denver and I keep going back and forth on this. My builder swears by engineered I-joists and LVL beams because they're straighter and don't shrink or twist like dimensional lumber. He says I'll save on callbacks for squeaky floors and drywall cracks. But my buddy who built his own place 5 years ago used traditional 2x10s and 2x12s and claims they're stronger and easier to modify later if you need to run a new vent or wire. He says his floors are dead quiet. I got a quote that showed engineered lumber would cost about $4,200 more for my 2,400 square foot ranch. But the builder argues that with less waste and faster install time on the job site it basically evens out. The lumber yard guy told me some engineered stuff has had moisture issues in our climate with the heavy snow and spring thaw. Anyone here build with one or the other and regret it? What made you pick your side?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_riley23d ago

Funny how this whole debate kinda mirrors what I've noticed with anything new versus old school. People pick a side and then suddenly every creak in a floor or every slightly twisted board becomes proof they were right all along. When I helped my cousin wire his basement he had these massive LVLs that were a pain to drill through but the whole floor was dead level and dead quiet. Meanwhile my uncle's got a 1950s house with dimensional lumber that's been fine for 70 years except one spot where a 2x10 twisted so bad it pushed the drywall out a quarter inch. It's like buying a truck or a car, there's no universal right answer just what tradeoffs you're willing to live with. Denver's climate is a real wild card too, I've seen pressure treated stuff warp in a single season up there.

henry_palmer2423d ago

Man, @the_riley you really nailed it with the confirmation bias thing. I think we all do it without even realizing it. I've got a buddy who swears by old growth fir and he'll point out every single time a modern joist squeaks, but he conveniently forgets the time his porch rafters started sagging after a wet spring. The Denver climate thing is no joke either. I had a set of stairs I framed with kiln dried stuff that looked perfect in the shop but after two weeks in a dry winter up there the stringers had cups so bad I had to shim the whole tread run. Your point about tradeoffs is the real takeaway here. There's no magic bullet, just picking which headache you can live with and crossing your fingers a little.