'Advice is also a tool'

Products and tools are indispensable in construction, but worth little if you don't know how to use them. Appropriate advice is therefore a standard part of the sales process of Gebr. Bodegraven of Nieuwkoop. Hence marketing manager Simon Bodegraven's statement, "Advice is also a tool."

Gebr. Bodegraven's supply program includes more than 2,000 mostly specialized products for the construction industry, divided into the categories of structural and safety, cavity anchors and insulation fixing, element and frame connections, timber connections, garden hardware and small hardware. And if a suitable solution does not (yet) exist, GB - as the family business is called by professionals - can mostly make it itself. "To use our specialist products requires knowledge and skill," Simon Bodegraven says. "Hence GB has made consulting a strong point. To share our far-reaching expertise, we regularly visit our customers. We are on the building site ourselves and therefore know exactly what challenges the construction industry faces. Moreover, we are open to questions from architects, structural engineers, contractors and the trade."

"With our calculation tool, contractors can determine the right fasteners project-specific and according to a convenient step-by-step plan."

Free calculation tool for frame joints

Bodegraven points to a special form of advice on the GB website: the free calculation tool for window frame connections. This was developed because of the increasing weight of window frames, in consultation with industry association NBVT. "Due to the weight of double and triple insulation glass, the frame connection is subject to much greater forces," he says. "Joints that were fine in the past are increasingly no longer adequate." Colleague and technical specialist Arjan van Termeij calculates roughly: "1 mm glass thickness of a square meter weighs about 2.5 kilograms. If glass is 6 mm thick, a single pane weighs about 15 kilograms. With triple glass you go to 45 kilograms. This is simply put, because the glass thicknesses are not quite the same."

In addition, since 2015, an Rc value of 4.5 applies to the facade, resulting in thicker cavity leaves and a greater occurring force in the frame connection and anchoring. "Two reasons why the familiar frame connection at the bottom is no longer adequate. In addition, the Netherlands is seeing more and more high-rise buildings with higher (wind) loads. Also on the frame connection. You really have to calculate that. Fortunately, contractors are increasingly aware of this. Nevertheless, in practice we still see a lot of damage - from sliding doors that no longer close to broken glass - that can be traced back to a connection that is too weak. Reason enough for us to develop a calculation program with which contractors can determine the correct fastenings - project-specific and according to a convenient step-by-step plan. The calculation program is fully mathematically based and takes into account the applicable standards and practical guidelines, such as KVT." Curious? For more information, visit www.gb.nl.  

Gebr. Bodegraven

Atomic Road 2
2421 LZ Nieuwkoop

PO Box 1
2420 AA Nieuwkoop

T +31 172 52 01 10

E info@gb.nl

W www.gb.nl