Engineered structural members and methods for constructing same

An I-joist adapted for use in a building structure, comprising:

• a vertical center member having a longitudinal axis and a top flange and a bottom flange;
• an outer top flange interconnected to said top flange and extending substantially an entire length of said longitudinal axis;
• and
• an outer bottom flange interconnected to said bottom flange and extending substantially the entire length of said longitudinal axis.

A method of manufacturing a structural joist, comprising:

• providing a vertical center member having a top flange and a bottom flange;
• providing an outer top flange have a receptacle for receiving the top flange;
• providing an outer bottom flange have a receptacle for receiving the bottom flange;
• positioning the top flange in the receptacle of outer top flange;
• and
• positioning the bottom flange in the receptacle of outer bottom flange.

An I-joist, comprising:

• a webbing having a longitudinal length;
• a top flange connected proximate a first end of said webbing and a bottom flange connected proximate a second end of said webbing, said top and bottom flanges extending along said longitudinal length;
• and
• at least one reinforcing member located within at least one of said top flange and said bottom flange, said reinforcing member extending substantially along said longitudinal length, and said reinforcing member comprising a plurality of arms.

A method of manufacturing a structural support member having a rated deflection loading, comprising:

• preparing a structural reinforcing member of at least length L for bonded integration into a structural support member of at least length L;
• forming a structural support member preform by feeding the structural reinforcing member into a thermoplastic extruder and extruding the structural reinforcing member with a thermoplastic, wherein the thermoplastic is bonded to at least a portion of the surface of the structural reinforcing member;
• and
• cooling the extrusion-formed structural support member preform wherein the bonded thermoplastic and structural reinforcing member share the loading of the structural support member without separating when the structural support member is loaded to the rated deflection loading.