Loads wood can't carry, connections most framers can't detail.
FRAMO integrates structural and light-gauge steel directly into wood-frame builds — moment frames, columns, and beams engineered for spans and lateral loads wood alone can't handle, welded and bolted to spec by the same crew running your job. No separate steel sub to coordinate, no gap between the wood scope and the steel scope.
CA General Building License #1138219 · Bonded $25,000 · Workers'-comp insured
Structural steel framing · Los Angeles
The service most framers don't offer, built by the crew already on your job
Steel enters the conversation exactly where wood runs out of span, load capacity, or lateral resistance. Here's what each part of the system actually does.
Structural Steel Moment Frames
Steel frames engineered for lateral load when shear walls alone can't do the job: large openings, tall glazed walls, or ground-floor conditions where there isn't enough wall length left for wood shear panels. This is the most common steel scope on a soft-story retrofit or an open-concept ground floor.
Best on: soft-story retrofits, large openings
Steel Columns & Beams
Point loads and spans that wood posts and beams can't carry at the size the architecture calls for. A steel beam can span a distance or carry a load that would require an oversized, ugly wood member — or that simply has no wood equivalent at all.
Best on: spans and loads wood can't achieve
Light-Gauge Steel Framing
Cold-formed steel studs and joists for fire-rated assemblies, long spans, or wherever a project's construction type requires non-combustible framing instead of wood.
Best on: non-combustible construction types
Steel-to-Wood Transition Connections
The detail that decides whether a steel moment frame actually does its job once it's tied into the surrounding wood structure. A perfectly engineered steel frame with a poorly detailed transition to the wood framing around it is a frame that doesn't transfer load the way it was designed to.
Best on: every steel-to-wood transition, no exceptions
Welded & Bolted Connections to Spec
Every connection detailed and inspected to the exact weld or bolt pattern the engineer specified — not a generalized "steel connection." This is the one part of a steel scope where "close enough" isn't a real category.
Best on: every structural steel joint we build
Same opening, steel doing what wood couldn't
An undersized wood-only opening on the left, a steel moment frame integrated into the structure on the right. Drag the handle across to see the stage change.
Real FRAMO jobsite photography — no renders, no stock. Confirm this is a matched before/after of the same structure before launch (see the HTML comment at the top of this file).
What makes a "moment" frame different from a regular steel frame
Swap a moment connection for a simple connection and the frame looks identical — it just doesn't do the one job it was engineered for. This is the build-up on a typical FRAMO moment frame.
Governed by AISC 360 (steel connection design) as referenced by CBC Chapter 22. Connections special-inspected before they're covered.
Six stages on the website, eight when steel is involved
Scroll the sequence
Structural Engineering & Connection Design
The engineer sizes the frame, columns, and beams, and specifies the exact connection detail — moment or simple — at every joint.
Permit & Plan Check
LADBS review, often including a deferred submittal specifically for the steel connection calculations.
Shop Drawing Review
The fabricator's shop drawings are checked against the engineer's connection design before a single piece of steel is cut.
Fabrication
Steel fabricated off-site to the reviewed shop drawings — cutting, drilling, and shop-welding done under controlled conditions.
Footing & Base Plate Prep
Isolated footings poured and anchor bolts set to the fabricator's template, so the steel actually lands where it's supposed to.
Steel Erection
Columns and beams set, plumbed, and temporarily braced before final connections are made.
Welding/Bolting & Special Inspection
Connections completed per spec, with third-party special inspection required on structural steel and high-load connections — a permit condition, not an option.
Steel-to-Wood Tie-In & Framing Continuation
Transition hardware installed, wood framing picks back up around the steel, and the structure reads as one system instead of two.
Four systems, side by side
In the terms that decide how each one gets built — and what goes wrong when it's rushed.
| System | Moment Frame | Steel Column/Beam | Light-Gauge Framing | Steel-to-Wood Connection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary material | Wide-flange or HSS steel | Wide-flange or HSS steel | Cold-formed steel studs/joists | Steel plates, bolts, or proprietary hardware |
| Typical use case | Large openings, soft-story retrofits | Long spans, heavy point loads | Fire-rated or non-combustible assemblies | Any point where steel meets wood framing |
| Special inspection required? | Yes, per CBC Ch. 17 | Yes, on structural connections | Typically no, for standard assemblies | Yes, at structural connections |
| Common failure if rushed | Wrong connection type installed (simple vs moment) | Undersized member for actual load | Missing fire-rating detail at penetrations | Load doesn't transfer as designed |
| Best for | Soft-story retrofits, large openings | Spans/loads wood can't achieve | Non-combustible construction types | Every steel-to-wood transition, no exceptions |
The connection type is a decision, not a default.
Design follows AISC, not habit
Structural steel design follows the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction) manual as referenced by CBC Chapter 22, and connection design — moment or simple — is specified by the engineer per AISC 360, not decided in the field.
Special inspection is a permit condition
Structural steel and certain high-load connections require third-party special inspection during welding and bolting per CBC Chapter 17 — this isn't optional. Light-gauge (cold-formed) steel framing follows its own separate design code, AISI.
LA's seismic zone drives moment-frame use
Moment frames get used more often here than in calmer regions, especially on soft-story conditions — ground-floor openings, tuck-under parking, large storefront glazing — where shear walls alone can't provide enough lateral resistance.
Soft-story retrofit is a common steel job
Retrofitting an existing wood-frame building with steel moment frames is one of the more common steel-structure jobs we see, alongside new-construction ground floors designed with large openings from the start. We work out of Van Nuys within roughly a 60-mile radius.
What owners ask before steel enters the plan
Wood beams have real limits on span and load that no amount of "bigger" solves cleanly — at some point the beam gets too deep to fit the ceiling, or the load exceeds what wood can carry regardless of size. Steel lets you hit that span or load without blowing out the ceiling height or over-sizing the member into the room. We spec wood first when it works — steel only enters the conversation when wood genuinely can't do the job.
A moment frame is a steel frame where the beam-to-column connection is rigid enough to resist lateral (sideways) load on its own, without relying on a shear wall. It's typically needed where you want a large opening — a wide window wall, a garage door, an open storefront — in a location that would otherwise need a solid shear wall for seismic resistance. The frame lets you have the opening and the lateral resistance at the same time.
Special inspection is a third-party inspector, required by code, who verifies welding and high-load bolted connections as they happen — not after the fact. It's a permit requirement on structural steel, not something we can skip to save money, and it exists because a bad weld can look identical to a good one until it's tested by an actual load event.
Both — steel moment frames are actually one of the most common tools for retrofitting an existing wood-frame building, especially soft-story conditions like ground-floor parking or commercial storefronts. It's more involved than new-construction steel because we're working around existing framing and foundations, but it's a well-established retrofit approach, not an exotic one.
Four things, in roughly this order: the size and number of steel members the engineering calls for, the complexity of the connections (moment connections cost more than simple ones), whether special inspection and a deferred submittal are required, and how much existing wood framing has to be modified to tie the steel in. We break these out on the estimate so you can see where the number comes from.
Got a span or a load wood can't handle?
Send us the plans or the opening you're trying to create, and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a bigger wood beam or a steel frame — plus a real number, not a range that moves later.
framoconstruction.inc@gmail.com · 15321 Saticoy St, Van Nuys, CA 91406