Wednesday’s Word of the Week: Fully Concealed Connections
This is the last of our three part series on specifying the visibility of connections in glulam structures. The first two parts covered exposed connections and partially concealed connections.
Specifying “fully concealed connections” means that all steel plates and hardware should be hidden from view in the completed structure. Steel can be concealed by embedding it within finished glulam parts, covering with wood plugs, or by locating plates within wall or roof construction.
For some common conditions, like lightly loaded beam hangers, a fully concealed connection can be fairly simple and cost-effective, like seen in the photo left.
However, most projects will involve at least some joints requiring a mixture of steel knife plates, countersunk and plugged bolts (see photo right), and possibly countersunk and plugged beam seats.
Fully concealed connections can add significantly to the cost of a project. Kerf cuts and countersinking add time and complexity to fabrication, and glulam member sizes often need to be increased to accommodate deep countersinks at these connections.
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| Indoor riding arena with fully concealed connections |
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| Complex hip roof truss structure with fully concealed connections |
