Are these beams worth stripping?

[dalivar]

Hello all,
We have stripped a small area of a beam in a living area and now we're not sure whether it actually looks better covered, or perhaps was never intended to be on show. It's only small at about 4" deep by 2" and still looks quite 'new' underneath the several paint layers. It was stripped weeks ago so is showing its proper colour which is darker than I was expecting.
What do you all think of it? Maybe I should just repaint them but in a pale colour?

 

[Penners]

It's difficult to see from your photos, but the beam could possibly be softwood. Do you think it is? If so, then the following factors could affect its colour:-

Is it still a bit damp from the stripping process? This would make the colour deeper.

What stripper did you use? Some strippers will darken softwood.

How old is it likely to be? Softwood exposed to air and light will slowly darken with age due to oxidisation of the resins in the timber.

Speaking for myself, I rather like the stripper colour. In my book it looks way more attractive than the black paint.

 

[MdB]

They look the same colour as the wood in our old beams. We thought about stripping ours but as four of them had been badly burnt and we were adding new beams we decided to just paint everything white.

From:

To:

 

[dalivar]

Thanks both,
The beams appear to be pine and are original, so about 130 years old.
We used Klingstrip and it is definitely dry.
I don't dislike the finish but I think I was wrongly expecting knarley old oak when clearly its not! It seems the other half has come round to stripping it, just as I've come round to painting them. Is there a better product than Klingstrip on soft wood? Or a different technique we should use?

 

[robgil]

That all depends on what they have been painted with.

 

[Penners]

Klingstrip is wonderful on hardwood, in my experience, but I have found it to darken softwood and sometimes make the surface a bit "fluffy".

Try Nitromors on a small test area and see how you get on.

Ultimately it's up to you how you want the beams to look - it's your house! I can only express my personal view that black paint looks horrible!

 

[dalivar]

Robgil, I can see a mix of gloss and matt black paint just on the surfaces, I presume its all paint?!
Penners we used nitromors (and heat gun) on a pine ledge door recently and it was very labour intensive and fiddly. That was the attraction of klingstrip. One area of timber (beam) has gone fluffy underneath our thickest test patch so I think that was overdone, I do agree that black is too dark and so long as no-one here seems to think they shouldn't be left bare then i think we will continue to strip them and see how it goes!

 

[Penners]

If stripping looks difficult, the other option might be to put a faux grain on the beams. It's a traditional technique, and done well it can be quite convincing.

There are dozens of Youtube movie son this - here's one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0qO2pLWkho

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Robgil, I can see a mix of gloss and matt black paint just on the surfaces, I presume its all paint?!
Penners we used nitromors (and heat gun) on a pine ledge door recently and it was very labour intensive and fiddly. That was the attraction of klingstrip. One area of timber (beam) has gone fluffy underneath our thickest test patch so I think that was overdone, I do agree that black is too dark and so long as no-one here seems to think they shouldn't be left bare then i think we will continue to strip them and see how it goes!

I'd paint them. If they're sawn pine, and it's always been a house, and there's no evidence that they were covered by a ceiling, they won't have been left bare originally.

 

[dalivar]

So, after some delaying we've decided to re-paint the beams instead of stripping them bare. But now I'm unsure whether its appropriate to paint the ceiling and the beams the same colour or different! What have others done? Since the beams are relatively small and close together I think it might look a bit 'busy' with two colours up there and as we are thinking of ' F&B elephants breath' on the wood work this might be a bit dark to cover the ceiling with. Maybe I'm just overthinking it all!

 

[vicky whitworth]

I'd paint the beams and the ceiling the same colour or it will look very stripey. Personally I like pale colours on the ceiling - shades of while really.
Zebra, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with very stripey. Please don't take offence. By the way are they friends of yours who've just moved into the Axminster wildlife park by the side of the A35? I spotted them from the car. Their white stripey bits look rather green but that may be the result of the Devon mizzle.

 

[Zebra]

Oh, Betty and Harold? And their cousins. Yes, they've moved down there to try to find some more sunshine, fat chance. And no, they are green, must be something weird in their ancestry. Either that or grass stains.
I agree with you that a ceiling isn't the right place for stripes. Could be good camouflage if one of my kind came to visit, and were somehow able to get onto the ceiling.... Why on earth a zebra would want to be camouflaged against your ceiling I don't know. No, bad idea.
Elephants breath, though. Is it made from real elephants breath? Don't tell Lady A, she'll be round like a shot.

 

[LadyArowana]

Oh, Betty and Harold? And their cousins. Yes, they've moved down there to try to find some more sunshine, fat chance. And no, they are green, must be something weird in their ancestry. Either that or grass stains.
I agree with you that a ceiling isn't the right place for stripes. Could be good camouflage if one of my kind came to visit, and were somehow able to get onto the ceiling.... Why on earth a zebra would want to be camouflaged against your ceiling I don't know. No, bad idea.
Elephants breath, though. Is it made from real elephants breath? Don't tell Lady A, she'll be round like a shot.

I HEARD THAT! ( or should it be "I herd that" ) Although I don't think there would be anything wrong with putting elephants to work breathing onto containers for paint. As long as they were well looked after and properly treated. One of the problems for Asian elephants has been unemployment. When they were used for logging in Thailand they were seen as useful and a valuable resource. Now that industry has declined they need to earn their keep in other
ways, a few have even taken up painting.

 

[Zebra]

There you are then dalivar. Get an elephant to come round and paint your ceiling, with or without zebras on it.

 

[dalivar]

I wish i could fit an elephant in my house! Or a zebra for that matter! That really would be a talking point :lol:
Thankyou for the feedback, using the same colour would certainly be easier. We are spending lots of money on test pots trying to decide the colours we like so nothing will happen very quickly, unless I went away for a week and let mr D do it all unhindered!

 

[Penners]

nothing will happen very quickly, unless I went away for a week and let mr D do it all unhindered!

That's the best plan. I'm sure you'll love the ubiquitous magnolia when you get home.