Home Improvement Skills & Specialties Tools & Materials

What You Need to Know About Microllam LVL Beams

Worker measuring Laminated Veneer Lumber or LVL with a measuring tape and L-ruler.

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Many homes today owe their interior appearance and flow to laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beams. This type of structural lumber is so prevalent and indispensable that it's hard to imagine building a home without it anymore.

While costly, Microllam LVL is today's standard building element for homes that need solid support without the bulk associated with other materials. With Microllam LVL, wide spaces can be spanned, doorways widened, structural walls removed, columns eliminated, and much more.

What Is Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)?

Pros
  • Good overall strength

  • Good weight-to-strength ratio

  • Stable

  • Consistent quality

  • Excellent size-to-strength ratio

Cons
  • Expensive

  • Special order item

  • Installation specifics to be followed

  • Defects like warping possible

  • Not always exterior-rated

Much like plywood, thin sheets of wood are sandwiched and bound with super-strong glue. Unlike plywood, LVL is solid and intended to carry loads.

Different types of LVL can be used either horizontally or vertically. This use is not interchangeable. LVL is specified for a type of use, such as for beams (horizontal) or columns (vertical).

Pros

Overall, LVL is strong. It has excellent size-to-strength and weight-to-strength ratios. This means that it has greater strength in a smaller size than solid lumber. It also means that LVL is very strong in relation to its weight. As a manufactured product, its quality remains consistent.

Cons

For do-it-yourselfers, LVL will be a special order item that is sometimes available at home improvement centers but mostly found at lumberyards or supply houses that serve the building industry.

For DIYers accustomed to dimensional lumber prices, LVL's prices are far more expensive. A 1-3/4-inch by 7-1/4-inch by 8-foot LVL beam is comparable in size to a dimensional two-by-eight by 8-foot piece of lumber. The two-by-eight costs $10 to $15; the LVL version runs $45 to $50.

Thicker beams become even more expensive, with a 5-1/4-inch by 13-3/4-inch treated glulam beam running $500 to $550.

Tip

Avoid exposing LVL to the exterior unless it is rated for exterior use. LVL can delaminate when exposed to the elements.

What Does Microllam Mean?

Microllam is the brand name for a type of LVL or engineered lumber made by Weyerhauser and used for heavy structural support. Each piece of this lumber is actually composed of smaller, micro-thin layers of wood that are glued together—or laminated.

Microlam or Microllam?

The correct spelling of this laminated beam is Microllam, but a common misspelling is Microlam. Weyerhauser did use the term Microlam at first, but soon switched the name to Microllam.

How to Use Microllam LVL

If you have an old house and can get in the crawlspace or basement, you will have a good peek at the joists and carrying beams. Unless the home has been renovated recently, no doubt you will be viewing sizable joists: two-by-eights or two-by-tens. Carrying beams, as the name infers, carry huge loads and are serious hunks of timber. In the past, size equated with strength.

But with newer advancements in lumber processing and lamination, manufacturers have been able to produce lighter and smaller lumber with the same or even greater strength.

Without LVL, today's homes would not have cost-efficient open-plan kitchens, several-car garages free of center support columns, or extra-wide doorways. LVL makes modern homes possible.

Garage door openings benefit from LVL construction because the span is so wide. Running Microllam LVL eliminates the need for large support lumber for two-car garages. Laminated, structural lumber has a wide variety of uses inside and outside of the house.

Do-it-yourselfers are often introduced to Microllam LVL with projects like removing a portion of a load-bearing wall or opening up a kitchen wall.

Where to Use Microllam LVL

Microllam LVL can be used throughout the home, garage, and other interior applications. It can be used in exterior applications like decks when rated for exterior use.

  • Flooring spans in the form of I-beam joists
  • Wide windows with Microllam LVL as headers
  • Doorway headers, especially for wide ones such as French doors
  • Garage door openings
  • Carrying beams of all types
  • Column-free spaces
  • Rim boards
  • Roof trusses
  • Patio doors
  • Open plan kitchens
  • Decks

LVL Installation Specifications

Because LVL is different from conventional dimensional lumber, it installs differently. All brands of LVL lumber come with installation guides that help the installer understand:

  • Hole and notch spacing: Holes and notches for running electrical cables and other services are usually allowable but only in specified places. The hole size is limited and the number of holes is limited, as well.
  • Storage requirements: Special storage conditions may be required. For example, some LVL is required to be stored in a vertical orientation, not horizontally.
  • Fasteners: Certain types of fasteners may be required (or prohibited from use) on different brands of LVL.
  • Fastener pattern: The number, type, and location of fasteners on the LVL may also be specified by the brand of LVL that you are using.

LVL Companies and Brands

Several companies provide structural laminated lumber products, such as:

  • Boise Cascade VersaLam
  • Georgia-Pacific GP Lam LVL
  • Louisiana-Pacific LP SolidStart LVL
  • RigidLam LVL
  • Weyerhauser Microllam

Cost of LVL Lumber

Microllam LVL and most other LVL runs high per linear foot because of the high degree of manufacturing that goes into each piece. LVL is always a major part of your materials cost for an addition, room bump-out, or wall elimination for an open floor plan home. Sample prices for LVL lumber include:

  • $500 to $550 for a 5-1/4-inch by 13-3/4-inch treated glulam beam
  • $45 to $50 for a 1-3/4-inch by 7-1/4-inch by 8-foot LVL beam
  • $70 to $75 for a 1-1/4-inch by 11-7/8-inch by 18-foot laminated strand lumber LSL rim board/stringer blank
FAQ
  • Who makes Microllam beams?

    Microllam LVL beams are manufactured by Weyerhauser, an American timberland company that was founded in 1900.

  • Is LVL stronger than solid wood?

    Yes, LVL is stronger than solid wood. Some suggest that it may be two to three times stronger when bearing heavy loads.

  • Is it okay for LVL to get wet?

    Ideally, LVL should not get wet. However, a protective coating can be applied that makes LVL more moisture-resistant.

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  1. Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) as a Construction Material. Oklahoma State University Extension.

  2. What Is Laminated Veneer Lumber? Naturally Wood