
Similar in appearance to plywood, LVL is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives. It offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform, and is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink due to its composite nature. LVL is typically used for headers, beams, rimboard, and edge-forming material.
LVL is still a relatively new product; it was developed in Canada in the late 1990s. High-tech, computerized sawing systems are what makes it possible to produce large-size, top quality construction material using relatively small trees.
The beam we are using is made up of three pieces of 1.25" x 9.5" LVL that are each 33 feet long. These things are long, awkward and heavy. Two people can pick up one of them but three pieces would be impossible without a crane. So we assembled the full beam by inserting each piece into the slot formed in the concrete wall on opposing sides of the foundation and then nailing them together while in place. We used clamps to hold the pieces while we nailed them.

The picture at right illustrates the slot, the wood spacers, and the sill gasket. If you look closely you can see that the beam is actually made up of 3 LVL beams.