Custom Steel Built
to Your Specs in
Spokane Valley, WA
No project too small. If it’s steel and you need it built, we can make it — and install it if needed. We also offer mobile welding 24/7.
custom built to your specs
powder coating & finishing available
we custom design for you
About Our Small Fab Services
Category 5 Steel provides custom small steel fabrication services out of Spokane Valley, Washington for homeowners, property managers, contractors, ranchers, and small businesses across the Inland Northwest. With an AWS Certified Welding Inspector on staff and decades of hands-on fabrication experience, we build custom gates, railings, flatbeds, trailers, staircases, decorative steel, and miscellaneous metalwork to your exact specifications. No cutting corners.
built by professionals
There’s no shortage of people with a welder in their garage who will take your money and hand you something that looks close to what you asked for. That’s not what we do.
Category 5 Steel was founded by Darryl Matlen, who started welding as a teenager and spent years as an ironworker and structural steel superintendent before building this company. Claire Cerling-Matlen is an AWS Certified Welding Inspector who oversees quality control at our shop.
When we fabricate something for you, it goes through the same quality standards as everything else we build.
custom steel for every application
Gates — Driveway, Farm & Security
Custom steel gates for residential driveways, commercial property entries, farm and ranch applications, and security installations. Manual and automation-ready sliding and swing gates in any configuration — single panel, double swing, cantilever, or rolling. Powder coating and paint finishing available.
Railings — Stair, Deck, Balcony & ADA
Custom steel railings for interior and exterior applications: stair railings, deck and balcony railings, commercial handrails, ADA-compliant rail systems, and industrial safety railing for mezzanines and elevated platforms. Raw steel, galvanized, or powder coat ready.
Custom Truck Flatbeds & Service Bodies
Purpose-built steel flatbeds, headache racks, tool storage boxes, ranch beds, and service bodies for a variety of working truck applications.
Trailers — Utility, Equipment & Custom
Repair and fabrication of utility trailers, equipment trailers, car haulers, and specialty configurations — cracked frames, bent tongues, worn decking, damaged fenders, and structural reinforcement.
Spiral & Custom Staircases
Interior and exterior steel staircases: spiral stairs, straight industrial access stairs, mezzanine stairs, and custom architectural staircase designs including composite stairs with glulam inserts, Trex frames, or single-spar designs.
Miscellaneous Shop & Property Steel
Steel pergolas, carports, fence panels, security bars, window guards, equipment stands, steel workbenches and tables, catwalks, custom shop fixtures and more. If it needs to be built, welded, repaired or installed, we can handle it.
Field & Repair Services
Repair, Reinforcement
& Mobile Welding
Crack repair, structural reinforcement, rusted steel replacement, trailer and equipment repair, and on-site mobile welding for situations where bringing the work to us isn’t practical.
If something is broken, bent, cracked, or worn through — bring it in or describe the situation and we’ll tell you whether it’s worth fixing and what that looks like.
Mobile welding available 24/7 — just ask.
built by professionals
We offer a variety of finishing options depending on the application and your preference:
- Paint — standard and custom colors
- Powder coating (coordinated with trusted local finishing shops)
- Raw steel — for patina finishing or customer-supplied coating
- Zinc / galvanized — where corrosion resistance is required
Let us know your finish preference at the quoting stage.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Ready to Talk
About Your Project?
If your project is in the design phase, the bidding phase, or you’re qualifying subs for upcoming work — send us your drawings and scope and we’ll come back with a preliminary bid.