Steelworks and RSJ’s are an essential part of modern building practices these day but they look so awful in older cottages I came up with a way to clad the steel beam using real oak planks, glued together in such a way as to create the appearance of a solid oak beam.
Sometimes I will make metal straps and apply polyurethane and earth pigments to imitate old rusty straps, these straps are a great way to hide joins especially when the beam is long as shown in the photo’s.
In certain situations I will make fake joints to imitate a second beam at 90 degrees to another as in the photo above, this also provides interest in long expanses of wood.
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams 
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams – wide view 
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams – metal strap 
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams – 3 
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams – 3 
oak beam cladding for rsj steelbeams