Steel with wood, a durable combination

A durable duo: steel grilles with wood inlay

"We see a clear trend that architects and other customers are looking for sustainable products with a durable appearance," says Johannes Berger, commercial director of Dejo. To meet this demand, the company offers galvanized steel deck gratings with wood inlays. "In this we use a unique combination of sustainable building materials."

"Wood is a sustainable product, provided it meets the right conditions in terms of origin. We can source this for the customer, or he can do it himself. Wood does have some disadvantages, such as the resilience of the material and the fact that you can't weld anything to it, which makes it more difficult to make fixings. We therefore use wood purely as an inlay material; it hardly has any structural function."

Combining the appearance of wood with steel improves the properties of the overall product. "A stand of only wood is risky, but thanks to the combination with steel we make welding possible. This allows us to make beautiful things. Making a T-profile is difficult with wood, but easy with steel and enormously strong." In this way, according to Dejo, an optimum is found between strength, rigidity and durability. "The strength of steel and appearance of wood are brought together in these gratings. Wood feels less cold and absorbs heat. This is beneficial in a grandstand. If parts of wood need to be replaced over time, this is easily possible while the structure remains standing. This extends the life of the overall structure." Wood alone can become very slippery in the autumn period due to tarnish. "With steel, we can therefore apply serrations. This anti-slip function is further enhanced by applying this in the transverse direction. Another possibility is to raise the steel structure slightly to get a ridge."

As mentioned, sustainability is an important issue for Dejo. "This manifests itself, among other things, in the use of FSC-labeled wood. In addition, we were the first grate factory to receive a Cradle to Cradle certificate for the steel press grate in 2010. This means that our product 100% is recyclable. It is not only about the steel itself, but also about our production processes. For example, we do not use any plastic by-products. No diesel or gasoline cars are allowed within our company; all lease cars are electric." 

The gratings are used for the construction of jetties, stands, outdoor flooring and decking. For example, at the IJdock on the Western Islands in Amsterdam, a marina has been built for water sports. Here the Dejo decking grid (DVR) with Bilinga inlay is used. The platform floor is modular and is secured with special clamps. This offers great freedom and flexibility for the future. The galvanized 60-4 steel girders with anti-slip serrations guarantee a high load, allowing the floor to effortlessly meet the requirements of the Building Code. For the Ministry of Finance in The Hague, Dejo also supplied decking gratings with wooden planks 30 mm high. The support protrudes 2 mm, creating an anti-slip effect in the transverse direction.