Bubba,

The Guild gets many requests for referrals of one kind or another to which it cannot in good conscience reply lest that be construed as a de facto recommendation of one member over another. We are working on a solution to this self-imposed gag rule. In the meantime, I suggest the following:

1. Check the Guild roster for members in the areas in which you are interested and query them for names of engineers who might be willing to advise you.

2. Post your question on the Guild Guestbook (http://www.tfguild.org/guestbook.html) and also at the TFG Bulletin Board (http://www.tfguild.org/wwwboard/wwwboard.html) in the hope that a bigger net may catch more fish.

3. Most importantly, attend the next Guild Conference (in Fairlee, Vermont over Halloween weekend). Guild conferences are a great place to catch up with timber engineers, companies which employ them (and those looking to hire).

Good luck,

Ed Levin