The Strong-Tie Blog Team

Unified Elegance: Harmonizing Deck and Pergola Hardware with Outdoor Accents

In outdoor design, every detail matters. From the choice of materials to the arrangement of furnishings, each element contributes to an outdoor space's overall style and ambiance. One often overlooked aspect of outdoor design is the successful integration of the hardware used in buildings like pergolas and decks with their structural members. The hardware needs to function flawlessly and complement the overall design scheme to enhance the visual appeal of an outdoor space.

Poster Loan and insurance for Houses and real estate or calculating home construction costs Surrounded by equipment and tools of safety first for contractor. 3d rendering on white background

Bidding Strategies in Construction: Types and Tips

Becoming effective and efficient at bidding on projects can mean more jobs landed for your company. While the types of bidding strategies in construction may differ depending on your company, your communication style and your clients, the bidding process follows roughly the same steps regardless of the residential project.

This cartoon shows a computer, a magnifying glass and a piece of paper.

Construction Lead Generation: Strategies for Contractors

As a contractor, you know your business depends on lead generation, so understanding how to get leads can help you sustain and grow your business as a builder. Developing a construction lead-generation strategy means three things: You need to take a high-level view of your potential clients and resources. You need to determine how much time and money you can dedicate to your lead-generation efforts. You need to decide whether you’ll do the lead generation yourself — or seek the assistance of a local marketing agency. If you decide that you’d like to perform the lead generation yourself, understanding how

Mass Timber Jobsite

Mass Timber for the Masses — How Simpson Strong-Tie Innovation Is Enabling More Efficient Construction

Mass timber construction is taking the construction industry by storm, and there are no signs of it slowing down. Leading forecasts from Polaris Market Research project the global CLT market to triple from USD 1.1B to 3.7B by 2030. Innovations promoting cost reduction and efficiency are helping widen the mass timber market. In the following article, it discusses a few examples of how Simpson Strong-Tie is helping in this effort.

Pictured above is a wooden deck attached to a two-story house.

Backyard Brilliance: Embracing New Trends in Deck, Pergola and Fence Design

Fostering natural outdoor spaces that can double as living areas encourages spending more time outside and expands the usable areas of the home. Homeowners may have grand visions for designing outdoor spaces, but making them all work together can be quite a feat. Understanding the current trends in deck, pergola and fence design can help you construct a space that incorporates all the necessary elements to give clients the backyard of their dreams.

Building Dreams: The Impact of Simpson Strong-Tie Student Scholarships

Building Dreams: The Impact of Simpson Strong-Tie Student Scholarships

We recently caught up with past recipients of our Simpson Strong-Tie Student Scholarship, part of our Strong-Tie Undergraduate Fellowship. The scholarship provides juniors and seniors majoring in architecture, civil or structural engineering, and construction management or technology at participating schools with $3,000 towards their education.

Employee Safety Day at the Simpson Strong-Tie West Chicago Plant

Employee Safety Day at the Simpson Strong-Tie West Chicago Plant

Safety is our number one priority for our employees, especially in our manufacturing facilities and warehouses. By conducting safety exercises, we can mitigate risks, promote a safety culture, improve emergency preparedness, and enhance employee well-being. Earlier this year, Simpson Strong Tie’s West Chicago warehouse organized a Safety Day, where the team engaged in interactive training to promote safety awareness. Learn about the various training exercises conducted during the event and how they both fostered camaraderie and enhanced safety knowledge.

Backyard Planning Software

Free Backyard Planning Software for Upgrading Your Outdoor Living Space

Research shows that remodeling and outdoor living projects are on the rise as homeowners feel more confident investing in their primary residence. Since many people view the outdoors as an extension of their living space, Simpson Strong-Tie offers free backyard planning software to help them design their dream backyard.

A New Foundation for America’s Roads and Highways

Simpson Strong-Tie has been committed to helping people design and build safer, stronger structures for more than 65 years. Now we’re advancing our mission even further — to help build safer and stronger roads, highways, airport runways and other paved surfaces in North America and around the world.

Three Critical Steps to Seismic Retrofit a Home

In our first blog post in this series, we identified why older homes are more vulnerable than newer homes to earthquake damage. We described what retrofitting is and how it strengthens your home’s structure. And lastly, we posed five questions you should ask yourself when deciding if your home needs retrofitting.

earthquake cracked foundation

Protecting Homes Against Earthquakes — a New Blog Series

October is Earthquake Preparedness Month, and October 15 is the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill. In this blog series, we thought we’d share some steps homeowners can take to help minimize the risk of damage from earthquakes. Depending on your location, you may find further information and resources at the end of each blog post, with links to local cities that participate in resiliency plans for homeowners and contractors. If an earthquake were to strike at this very moment, are you confident your home is adequately constructed to withstand its forces?

avant collection decorative hardware

Outdoor Accents® Avant Collection™ — a New Look for Backyards

One of the ways many homeowners increase the enjoyment (and monetary) value of their property is by adding a well-designed deck, pergola or other outdoor structure to their backyard. Whether it’s for entertaining or just chilling with a good read and a bracing beverage, a beautiful outdoor living space makes any backyard activity more desirable. Perhaps that’s why, in a 2017 survey, 25% of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) remodelers reported adding a deck as one of their most common projects, and the figure was nearly identical for new home construction.

earthquake cracked foundation

How Earthquake Brace + Bolt Provides Financial Support to Help California Homeowners Retrofit

When you live in earthquake country, you know it’s not “if” there will be a big quake, it’s “when.” You may have an earthquake emergency kit ready, but there are also steps you can take now to strengthen your home to make it more resistant to earthquake damage. And if you live in California, there’s a program called the Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) that provides up to $3,000 for seismic retrofit grants to homeowners residing in more than 150 California zip codes. If you’ve checked it before and your zip code wasn’t listed, be sure to check it again

Getting Big Payback from Brick or Stone Veneer Remodeling Projects

Homeowners seeking the best bang for their buck on home improvement projects typically turn to swanky kitchen or bath upgrades involving high-end appliances or granite countertops. But the latest cost-versus-value report by Remodeling magazine finds that the addition of masonry veneer siding delivers a much higher return on investment.

Announcing: Give It Your Best Shot 2019! Simpson Strong-Tie® Outdoor Accents® Photo Contest

Simpson Strong-Tie’s “Give It Your Best Shot” photo contest is returning for the summer of 2019. Last year, we received dozens of beautiful shots of pergolas that were built using our Outdoor Accents connectors and fasteners. It was tough to choose a winner, but eventually we settled on Chris Lewis from Chula Vista, California.

BVLZ brick veneer ledger connector kit

All Decked Out: How to Attach a Deck to a House Through Brick Veneer

As winter turns to spring and the days get warmer and longer, homeowners gear up for backyard barbecues and fun in the sun. That means brisk business for the deck-building industry, which has been enjoying rapid growth in tandem with the increased popularity of outdoor living and entertaining. After all, what homeowner doesn’t want a nice outdoor deck?

FRCM – An Alternative to Shotcrete for Structural Repair and Strengthening of Concrete

This post examines several advantages of fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) applications over traditional shotcrete methods in the repair and reinforcement of concrete construction.

What You Should Know About Cross-Laminated Timber Construction

Residences and low-rise commercial structures have been built using dimensional wood framing since the mid-19th century. The first skyscraper ever built was erected with steel framing, however. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago was completed in 1885 and was 10 stories tall.

Connecting Through Art: The Dinosaurs of Simpson Strong-Tie

One of the first things you notice when you visit our home office in Pleasanton, CA, is the art. Our late founder, Barclay Simpson, had a great appreciation for art. It’s one of the many legacies he left us. From the eight-foot metal sculpture of Michelangelo’s David — made completely from Simpson Strong-Tie products — that greets you at the main entrance, to the one-of-a-kind paintings, prints and sculptures scattered throughout the building, it’s quickly apparent that ours is not just another suburban office building.

Made Even Stronger: Mexico Beach Home Rides Out Hurricane Michael

On October 10, Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Florida Panhandle with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Having already wrought havoc across Central America, the Category 4 storm became the third most powerful hurricane (in terms of minimum central pressure, a key indicator of strength) ever to hit the contiguous United States. By the time the storm finally cleared, it had tragically claimed 60 lives and some $11.28 billion in damages.

Giving Back: Simpson Strong-Tie Celebrates Do What You Can Day

One of the Simpson Strong-Tie core values is to give back to the communities where our employees work and live. This value, established by our company founder, Barclay Simpson, is reflected in the actions of not only our company but also of our employees. One of our biggest days of giving back is November’s Simpson Strong-Tie Do What You Can Day, an annual event celebrated throughout our company at our locations around the world. Here are some of the ways we did what we could.

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