Wood and Metal Fabrication

Steel frames with timber infill — the warm-and-hard combination that suits West Coast homes.

Timber Species and Sourcing

The species decides the colour, the hardness and how the piece behaves once it is in a room or on a deck. What we specify depends entirely on where it is going.

• White oak — the safe default for interior tops, treads and shelving. Hard, stable, takes a finish predictably and does not go orange.
• Walnut — the one clients ask for by name. Beautiful, softer than oak, and it lightens in strong sun.
• Douglas fir — local, warm, and honest on West Coast projects. Softer, so it dents. On a stair tread that is character; on a desk it may not be.
• Western red cedar — the exterior choice. Naturally rot-resistant, light, and it silvers gracefully if left unfinished.
• Live-edge slabs — for feature tables and counters. Availability drives the design rather than the other way round, so we shortlist slabs with you before the steel is drawn.

We source through local suppliers and mills. For anything where the grain is the feature, we would rather have you see the actual board than approve a species name on a drawing.

Fixing Methods

Wood moves and steel does not. Every fixing decision follows from that one fact.

A slab fastened rigidly to a steel frame at both ends will crack, reliably, usually in the first winter when the heating comes on. The frame has to allow the timber to expand and contract across its width while holding it firmly in place.

We do that with slotted holes and shouldered fasteners, with figure-eight or Z-clips on table tops, and by fixing tight at one point and letting the rest float. The visible hardware is chosen to suit the piece — countersunk and hidden where the design is quiet, exposed and deliberate where it is not.

For treads and cladding, concealed cleats and blind fixings keep the face clean. It is more work in the shop and worth it every time.

Interior vs Exterior

Interior and exterior are different projects even when they look the same.

Indoors, the enemy is humidity swing. Timber should be acclimatised in the space before final fitting, and the finish — hardwax oil, lacquer or a penetrating oil — should be applied to all faces including the underside, so both sides take on moisture at the same rate. Finishing only the top face is the fastest way to make a slab cup.

Outdoors, the enemies are water and UV. Detailing has to shed water rather than trap it: no flat surfaces that pond, no steel channel that holds a puddle against end grain, and clearance wherever timber meets metal. We isolate the two where we can, because damp wood in contact with steel accelerates corrosion in the steel and staining in the wood.

Fasteners outside are stainless. Plain steel screws in cedar will bleed black streaks within a season.

Movement and Maintenance

Timber in this climate moves through the year — swelling through a wet winter, shrinking through a dry heated spring — and a well-built piece accommodates that invisibly. Small seasonal gaps at a joint are the wood working as intended, not a fault.

Interior finishes want attention every few years rather than never. Oiled surfaces get a refresh coat; lacquered surfaces last longer but need proper refinishing when they eventually wear through. We will tell you which you are getting and what it asks of you.

Exterior timber is the higher-maintenance half of any wood-and-metal piece. Left unfinished, cedar silvers and is fine. Kept its original colour, it needs recoating on a cycle. Neither is wrong — but choose knowing which one you are signing up for.

The steel, meanwhile, will need nothing. That asymmetry is worth planning around: we detail so that timber elements can be refinished, or replaced outright, without cutting the metalwork apart.

Free in-house consultation

We come to you, measure the site, and talk through options and budget before you commit to anything. No charge, no obligation.

Call (778) 805-5333 or email sales@trussmetal.com