Professional Custom Home Builders in Burnaby, BC

We often use steel in our timberwork for structural or aesthetic reasons. Often, hidden steel connectors may be required in your timberwork to meet modern building code requirements. This is especially typical when building on the West Coast, to withstand earthquake loads. We also do some contemporary timberwork where steel or iron is part of the architectural look.

In most jurisdictions, the building department will require a structural engineer to approve your timber design before issuing a building permit. We work very closely with several engineers who specialize in timber engineering and can coordinate this for you.

We get this question a lot. Using trees from your own lot is not practical for several reasons. First, we cut our timbers in a shop. This would require all your trees to be harvested and then trucked to our shop and then back to the job site. Secondly, often the timber on your site might not be a suitable grade for timber work. It might be too small or might have hidden decay. Usually, it is more practical to mill the trees on your site and use the lumber for the non-timber frame elements of your house such as beams for decks, trim, siding, etc.

The pricing of timber work depends on several factors: volume of timber, complexity of design, species and grade of timber, finishing of timbers and whether the timber is kiln dried or green. The timberwork in our projects typically cost between $50 to $100 per square foot, but for a more accurate quote please contact us to discuss your specific project.

Typically timber framing refers to timber construction using mortise and tenon joinery whereas post and beam usually involve bolted connections with metal brackets. Done well, both can be very attractive. We specialize in both.