Decorative Beam Brackets

You see them often in cabins and log homes--those black iron straps used to bolt wood timbers together.  I have often thought that there is a way to make them decorative as well as functional, thus allowing them to contribute to the home's overall design.

Five years ago I got my chance.  The owner of a remodeling company in Minneapolis needed some beam brackets for load-bearing timers on the second floor of a lake home he was building. He recognized that people would be seeing the brackets up close as the timers formed an arch at the top of the stairs of the loft.  He provided drawings defining how the brackets had to work.  I added design elements including layers of metal, curved ends and diamond headed bolts. I shipped the completed the brackets to the site.  While I got a note from the builder with his payment that the brackets worked fine, he provided no photos or other info about the install.  Well, this summer I finally got to see how the installed brackets turned out. I stopped in after doing some canoeing in western Wisconsin near this home. Here are some photos of the home.  

Do you have a project that calls for beam brackets?  Please give me a call at Island City Forge to discuss how we can make them fit with your design scheme.