Beams & Timber Direct Ltd – building a solid reputation
A varied portfolio of projects is key to this thriving business.
Beams & Timber Direct is a privately owned sawmilling business located in Tuakau, south of Auckland.
The company supplies appearance grade timbers and custom bollards and is the proud manufacturer of the BTD Interlock Fence. As well as supplying high grade timber, Beams & Timber has machinery for processing the timber further, e.g. planing, topping, routering etc.
Julie and Graeme Fox have owned Beams & Timber for 12 years, and over that time they have undertaken a varied portfolio of work – from horse studs and farm projects to wineries and residential developments.
A project for a Karaka horse stud offered Julie and Graeme the opportunity to put their mark on an existing fence and come up with solutions to the client’s specific requirements.
Karaka horse stud
“The customer wanted something different from the common post and rail fence,” says Julie. “Our existing fence design needed modification, including making it taller with wider spaced rails. Not only did the fencing have to keep valuable bloodstock in, but it also needed to be aesthetically pleasing as it formed the stud’s entrance way and roadside boundary.
The solution was found by combining standard and custom BTD Interlock Fence components which Julie says presented a challenge.
“We needed to invest in new machinery to allow us to manufacture the fence to the customer’s specification. As a result, we are now able to offer bespoke solutions for our clients. It’s given us a broader range of fencing options.”
Karaka horse stud - before
The result is an extremely aesthetically pleasing fence which the owners believe compliments the upmarket stable complex and the quality of the other training amenities available at the stud.
Another job Julie and Graeme undertook recently was a fencing project for the Department of Conservation (DoC) in Kapiti.
Whareroa Farm is a recreation reserve offering walking, picnicking, biking, and horse-riding, with links to the adjoining Akatarawa Forest and Queen Elizabeth Park across State Highway 1. When the farm shed conversion was planned, the DoC staff approached Beams and Timber.
“Some of the DoC staff had seen our fences around the country and they looked us up on the internet. They saw we produced the type and quality of finish that they were after,” says Graeme.
The character of the fence needed to fit with the interface between visitors and the farm. The location is adjacent to State Highway 1 and is seen by approx 20,000 cars per day so it needed to be aesthetically pleasing too. Julie and Graeme were sent a site plan and throughout the duration of the job, changes were made which they responded to quickly.
Whareroa drawing
“We made some posts extra long as they doubled as verandah posts on the original rustic building, with the fence rebated into the verandah posts. We also ended up supplying bollards for the carpark. The end result was that DoC achieved what they set out to, with a fence in character with the other buildings,” says Julie.
Beams and Timber has plenty of jobs on at the moment and as for the future, Julie and Graeme are upbeat.
“Although fencing work is consistent, we are working on increasing our profile as suppliers of bollards to councils and council contractors/landscapers. We produce bollards for many North Island councils in a variety of sizes and finishes specific for each region. Using a very high grade of timber means the bollards last a long time, giving value to the rate payers’ dollars over a long term.”
