When using our solid beams is not possible, we offer our Box Beams as a design solution. The “skins” are created by sawmilling the face from hand-hewn or sawn beams to produce decorative planks that are used as outside faces of hollow beams. Depending on the appearance and size of the box beams, we can use our planking product or faces milled from beams to create box beams. Due to the labor and waste involved in manufacturing, box beams are more expensive than solid beams. Box Beams are typically the best option for applications that require the wrapping of exposed structural elements such as glu-lams, steel I-beams, steel columns, and LVLs, etc. Box Beams are also used as an alternative to solid beams in applications precluding the use of heavy solid beams.
Planks used to produce our box beams are kiln dried to minimize shrinkage. To achieve the appearance of a solid beam, we use a “lock-miter” corner joint–basically a T&G miter. The lock miter joint is usually invisible to most observers. All box beams are custom orders, so please discuss with us the required lead time.