Snowey Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Can anybody give some ideas of the best way to enhance and seal the Oak beams in the loft area we are going to make into a bedroom, we are in the process of cleaning them using elbow grease mainly, what do we do next please. Snowey in the Gironde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Some of ours we painted (to cover the cack-brown muck paint that we couldn't get off), the others we Briwaxed, after a good going over with a stiff brush. (Oooh, thank you, Matron) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony4 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 The way i`ve cleaned up all the oak beams in our property is just by using an orbital sander starting with heavy grade paper and then going down to a 80 grade - didn`t see any point in going finer than that. A wood chisel and electric planer also came in handy for certain bits.They were all then treated to 2 coats of xylophene ( termite protection).Then I used Bondex in the colour of Chene rustique and gave everything 2 coats. My French neighbour gave me the tip of once i got the oak beams to the colour/stain i was after i should change to Bondex Clear if i was wanting to re-coat anything - more comon sense than a tip but i hadn`t thought of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 We have treated ours for termites/boring insects and then you can either wax (which I don't think gives a very good finish - but that could be just me) or stain them. It is up to individual taste and what you want the beams to look like when finished but I would not miss out the wood treatment. We have treated every bit of wood in the whole place and will sand the beams down before they get a final treatment.Hope that this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Would have preferred to leave them all natural but upstairs waxed (with light tint), downstairs kitchen beams painted (to hide brown gunk and give room a lift) and sitting room with ceiling a mile high treated and left with natural finish. They all look superb but natural finish looks even better!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 funny thought for sure this was going to turn into another tung oil posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Leave 'em be Snowey, I'll bet they look lovely as they are, start to put man made stuff from the Bricos on old timbers and they'll look like lovely old timbers that have had man made stuff from the Bricos plastered on them! I'll bet they've been around a long time and will be around after your grandkids kids have retired!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve@sarah Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 If these are old beams and have not been painted then I would just go over them with a wire brush to get rid of loose muck possibly they may need sanding but I have never bothered with that- the point of old beams is that they are old!If it is new oak then what we do is rub in linseed oil with a rag dont get it on the plaster though as it is v. difficult to paint over.I would not use paint or varnish ect as the natural colour of the wood usually looks best. However, take advice on what insect treatments are recommended locally!Remember that the colour of new or reacently sanded wood will gradually mellow and darken with time so if you stain it dark it will get darker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 At the risk of totally boring folk with further oil related info.....don't use Linseed (either raw or boiled) oil on green (fresh) Oak. It's fine for old Oak, but not green Oak.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowey Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 Thankyou very much for the info everybody, excellent, but I think I am going out to look for the old fashioned Matron that would just suit me I think!!!! Snowey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowey Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 Thankyou very much for the info everybody, excellent, but I think I am going out to look for the old fashioned Matron that would just suit me I think!!!! Snowey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poolguy Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 For Dave&Olive's benefit (sorry for being slow.. I've been away) USE TUNG OIL ....! You must be bored with me saying it.I concur with Chris about avoiding linseed oil as it will not stay in the timber and will not give you the protection and finish you need. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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