1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	The plies are not treated as thoroughly because of the larger dimension column. Wood treaters tell me that ¾” is about the maximum depth of penetration to expect. Therefore, expect a much shorter life than the 60 years warranted by Gruen-Wald. The Ponderosa Pine does not treat as well as Southern Yellow Pine. Gruen-Wald Classic Columns use all Southern Yellow Pine and therefore will have a longer life expectancy. Pond Pine is less stable than SYP and SPF. Expect more bowing, twisting and warping than with the Gruen-Wald Classic Column. Full treated columns are heavier and cost more to ship. Full treated columns require more workers to erect. (Possibly even mechanical equipment because of their weight.) The entire sidewall system and column to truss connections require double hot dipped galvanized nails/bolts or stainless steel nails/bolts. (Regular galvanized nails are literally eaten up within three to five years in treated wood.) This is more costly to use and may even limit the use of power nailers if they scuff the hot dipped coating, which could lead to accelerated deterioration. The Ponderosa Pine E value is 1.4x10 vs. Southern Yellow Pine #1 of 1.7x10 . This means that the Gruen-Wald Classics with #1 Southern Yellow Pine is 21% stiffer (deflects 21% less) than the Pond Pine column of equal size. This is a significant factor in the life of claddings and apertures (doors & windows) and “feel” of the finished structure. To have the same stiffness you would add a ply to each Pond Pine column. Compression parallel to grain in the Ponderosa Pine is 1100psi, while #1 Southern Yellow Pine is 1750psi. This is a 60% increase for the compressive stresses for Gruen-Wald Classics. This would require an additional 2 plies in the Pond Pine column to equal the compressive strength of a Gruen-Wald Classic Column. Shear capacity of #1 Southern Yellow Pine is 180psi Vs 140psi for Ponderosa Pine. This is a 29% increase, requiring 1 (one) additional ply of Pond Pine to equal the 3ply Gruen-Wald Classic Column. Dr. Frank Woeste, PE, and Professor of Wood Construction and Engineering at Virginia Tech., recently stated “Using Ponderosa Pine in posts will relieve some of the pressure on the Southern Pine, Douglas Fir and Hem-Fir which are well suited for other uses such as wood truss construction.” We at Gruen-Wald Engineered Laminates respect Dr. Woeste, but we do not agree that your building’s columns are the place to use up this less desirable wood fiber. We do not consider your building’s columns to be less important than any other component of your building. Therefore, we build our columns with nothing but the best, #1 Southern Yellow Pine and machine stress rated SPF 1650 Fb. We feel that a Gruen-Wald Classic Column with 21% less deflection, 59% more compressive stress allowable and 28% more shear capacity will give you a better building and help establish you as a quality builder or supplier. Pond Pine may be OK for a low-end builder, but it is NOT acceptable for those of you who expect and demand excellence.