Load Transfer

Universal Forest Products delivers all of your concrete forming product needs coast-to-coast from California and Texas on to the shores of Virgina ...and straight to your job site. Direct from our lumberyards or from the mill, we'll provide you with the forming products that help you take form—pour after pour. Whether it's a run-of-the-mill forming project or a custom job, UFP is here to help you and your project look good. Our team of product experts will work with you to fulfill your needs on time and within budget.

UFP's wide range of innovative concrete forming products is just right for your formwork and shoring project needs. Universals forming products include dimensional lumber, architectural form plywood, wet curing blankets and floor protection material, concrete forming panels, OSHA-approved wood scaffold planks, engineered wood products, plated trusses, beam sides, edge forms, forming boards, load transfer products and even Gates Concrete Systems.

Need a concrete form designed? UFP's engineering department will design or engineer custom wood forms to meet your unique needs.

Both traditional insulation and radiant barriers reduce the amount of heat conveyed into the attic of a home. But they do it in two distinct ways. Insulation slows convection, which is heat transfer due to air movement. Plus, the fibers in the insulation prevent the transfer of heat through the spaces in the insulation. By contrast, a radiant barrier such as Enerflex blocks heat transfer that radiates across an open air space.

When discussing the effectiveness of insulation, R-value is the measurement used but there is no such rating for radiant barrier. Radiant barriers and insulation – how do they differ?Instead, we rely on numerous studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of radiant barriers. One by the Florida Solar Energy Center has revealed that by having a radiant barrier like Enerflex under peak daytime heat conditions, the total heat transfer allowed down through an attic can be reduced by as much as 40 percent, which can significantly reduce a home air conditioning system’s cooling loads. In addition, Enerflex radiant barrier insulation blocks 96% of the radiant energy of the sun.

To see just how easy Enerflex radiant barrier installation is, watch our step-by-step how-to video.

The 2010 ACI 360 Guide to Design of Slabs on Ground has been released and, as in the past, the guide becomes the primary design and product specification tool for architects, designers, owners and contractors. Making sure that your project meets the new guidelines is critical - especially from a liability standpoint. When issues occur on a concrete floor or pavement, and litigation is the means to settle differences, the ACI 360 document becomes very important, as it will be the standard that legal consul and expert witnesses refer to. What if your project does not meet the new guidelines? How much liability you can afford to assume?

In chapter 6 on Joints, you’ll find new criteria for slab-on-ground construction to limit vertical defection of joints in concrete floors. Chapter 6 also includes criteria for defining the acceptable limits on joint deflection plus providing the designer with performance guidelines on specifying load transfer devices in areas of the slab subjected to wheeled traffic, heavy loads or both. The new guidelines offer key language that provides direction for designers to specify methods and materials to the contractor during a construction project.

About EZdowel load transfer system
The patent pending EZdowel is part of the EZ Form® system designed for construction and contraction joints. EZdowel provides superior load transfer while saving time and labor during the installation process. Each plate dowel is coated to create a bond break with the slab, and compressible edge banding on both sides to allow the slab to move laterally.

The EZdowel system, manufactured by McTech Group and distributed exclusively by Universal Forest Products, will help your flooring or pavement design achieve top performance, and provide you with the confidence that you're meeting the latest ACI design criteria.

Since the EZdowel is a “direct contact” dowel, there are no plastic pocket formers which remain in the slab (common in other brands). Plastic could possibly crack, or compress under load, which could allow deflection. Direct Contact: “Load transfer devices in direct contact with the concrete will be the most effective load transfer mechanism for controlling vertical joint deflection”. - ACI 360 (6.1.2) EZdowel is the only plate dowel on the market that has 100% direct contact with the concrete on top and bottom of the dowel. EZdowel has 100% more direct steel surface to concrete contact than any other competitor.