Beams 17th Century cottage-what to do?

[SolisGazer]

We are in the process of renovating a 17th century small cottage. In the lounge the beams were stained a really really dark colour. We are in the process of sanding away the stain but we are now realising why they were stained so dark. Over the years the beams have been replaced and we now realise that they are all different woods ranging from oak, beech, pine etc. The result is a hotch potch of coloured wood. We have the desired affect of light beams but they look silly as they are all so different. Do we wax them and say "it is character" or do we white wash them so that they look lime washed or do we stain them back dark and have an oppressive lounge once again? Any advice greatly received as I am sick of thinking of solutions and not really getting anywhere!!

 

[skier-hughes]

It's got to be your choice as you're the one who's going to be living there looking at them everyday.
As a forum, most people wouldn't have recommended sanding wood, as it destroys any natural patina, but so long as you do something to the wood that doesn't do it any further harm it really is a personal choice.
If you want to keep the room light, a good idea, I'd go for limewashing to make them look limewashed or waxing.

 

[essexbearhunter]

Welcome to the Madhouse! :roll:
In part, your feelings revealed in the question, provide part of the answer.

Neither of your twin goals of 'respecting the historic interior' and 'creating a pleasurable family home' is served by re-staining the beams back to the dark state that you found them in. The recurring fashions for black /very dark structural woodwork may be based more on Victorian ideas of Olde England than anything 17th century.

Your disappointment with the idea of a multi-textured and multi-toned hodgepotch of beams suggests that this also fails the 'family home' test - and, like the vogue for stripping inferior woodwork, is equally unhistoric. Short of re-installing oak beams to replace later cheaper replacements (if indeed they are replacements) which might have a degree of historical integrity (and might result in a more pleasurable living room- but at the cost of huge disruption to the rooms above) .....your obvious solution is to unify what you have.

At this point the usual plea is for pictures because so much depends on what else remains and how the beams are placed.

 

[robgil]

I feel your pain , every beam in this house is coate3d ion fence preservative. I've been slowly removing it with NB510 from paint strippers of sudbury but its a long , hard drawn out process.
Its not uncommon for the original builders to use different types of wood and can add to the character, If you can get around this then it would be easy to live with them as they are.
Limewashed timbers can look lovely though and ive often thought about doing some of the timbers here.

 

[Penners]

Do we wax them and say "it is character" or do we white wash them so that they look lime washed

Waxing them as they are would certainly be an honest reflection of the character and development of the building. Personally, I don;t think that would look "silly".

As for "white wash them so that they look lime washed", I'm not sure what you mean by whitewash. The best way to get them to look limewashed is to limewash them! It's also a traditional, non-destructive, reversible and protective treatment. And it looks lovely.

 

[SolisGazer]

Sanding really was the only option as nothing else we tried could remove the stain but if anyone has any tips or ideas then greatly received as we are only 4 beams in to the process!!

Thanks for all your advice so far! Replacing the beams is really not an option as we are on a tight budget and I do not think that it is worth the expense especially as between the beams it has been artexed and we need to get this reskimmed etc.

The idea of limewashing came to us when I visited Shakespeare's house over the easter holiday and learnt this was normal in houses. I really have no idea about it other than that and wondered if it would be a bad move especially when it comes to selling the house. As I really have no idea what the finish would be like as in the Shakespeare house it was very roughly done.

Really I just want a nice light room as it is very small but something that is in keeping with what after all would have been a poor man's cottage and I want the ceiling to look like it would have been like when it was originally built. The house itself was on the market for over 18 months due to a whole host of awful things the previous owners had done to the place and as this is the first period house I have renovated I really don't want to make any more mistakes for future sales.

Gosh what a ramble!!

 

[Penners]

Limewashing would certainly not be a bad move. When it comes to selling the house you can truthfully say that it was a widely accepted practice at tyhe time the cottage was built, and the limewash can be washed off if it's not required any more. It's a good way of avoiding the gloominess that heavily beamed ceilings can sometimes bring.

And limewashing needn't look immaculate to look good, in my view.

Here's a very famous building with limewashed timbers - Lavenham Guildhall.

 

[middi]

As already suggested, if you have a mixture of woods which " offends your eye", limewashing is an exellent and very traditional way to keep things simple, uniform and in character. May need more than one coat, several maybe, to cover deep ugly old paint stains.
It will look very attractive if the panels between the studs are painted with a traditional " rich " colour to contrast the white beams/studs.

It is a personal choise from your point of view.

Limewash is easily removed with bucket and sponge if you are unable to live with it. The important thing to remember is that the beauty of a modestly built cottage has to be accepted for what it is, there is no point trying to alter what you have into a higher status timber framed building.

Middi

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Sanding really was the only option as nothing else we tried could remove the stain but if anyone has any tips or ideas then greatly received as we are only 4 beams in to the process!!

Welcome to the forum SG.

These guys will almost certainly have something to remove whatever has been used, unless it is an oil that has penetrated deeply. If you can send them a sample, they will be able to recommend something precise. I have no connection with them, but have used them and like many on here, will swear by them.

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/

Cleaning gunky beams needs gentle strippers and endless hours of elbow grease. As you have discovered, abrasive shortcuts generally just destroy the nice patina gained with age. However, there are some who like the driftwood look! :wink: If you search on here for "cleaning beams" or similar you will find many useful threads to guide you.

Limewashing is nice, reversible and simple.

 

[SolisGazer]

Thanks for the advice will definately stop sanding and look at the alternatives on website suggested...thanks FW.

How do I go about making limewash or is it something I can buy? If it is reversible then it is defo worth a go!

 

[Penners]

Lots of useful information on making/buying/using limewash here:

http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=250

http://www.traditionalpaint.co.uk/about/application.php

http://www.mikewye.co.uk/mikeprices.htm#limewash

 

[MdB]

Our neighbours old beams have never been painted / varnished / stained and look fantastic. As they are old though, they are fairly dark and do make the room dingy.

Our old beams have been painted white, blue (!?), multiple layers of black before we finally painted them white again. It wasn't worth stripping them as we had doubled up the beams with new ones for strength so have a mixture of new and old and because a number of the old beams were burnt. Painting them white was a good decision for us and has greatly improved the look of the room.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Not experienced in this area at all but I think the limewashed beams do look lovely. I wouldn't make limewash, I'd just order it from Farrow and Ball or Womersley's out of pure laziness mingled with fear!

We have a few beams here laden with stain and worm killer. I plan just to wax them. They aren't all different colours like the OP's though, which does sound a bit unliveable with.

 

[robgil]

Do you have to water down the bought limewash Joce? Ive always been told ,obviously depending on circumstances, to use a 1 to 4 mix of putty to water for the first coat , then a 50/50 mix for the rest.

My neighbour had the house limewashed and they used a limewash that only needed one coat. They didnt have to dampen the wall down first and let it dry in the sun without dampening it down again afterwards.
I wonder what they make it with?

 

[JoceAndChris]

I haven't used it Rob so I couldn't say but it's an interesting question. What appeals to me about it is the predictability of the colour - because I don't want white anywhere. How you could make your own yellow, or red, for example, and ensure it matches the wallpaper you just spent £700 on is beyond me!
I will be using it in the fullness of time - we haven't reached the limewashy bits yet.

 

[CliffordPope]

I don't think it's the beams themselves that make a room look dark, its the colour of the ceiling in between.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Dark is very subjective, personally I like dark rooms and see no reason for every room to be light. The garden is light, after all - the house should have cosy spaces for hibernation, candlelight and roaring fires, rich fabrics and colours.
There's a modern obsession with white and light and I hope it ends.

 

[MdB]

There's a modern obsession with white and light and I hope it ends.

A modern and ancient obsession with light and a Victorian obsession with gloom.... I like my light

 

[robgil]

I haven't used it Rob so I couldn't say but it's an interesting question. What appeals to me about it is the predictability of the colour - because I don't want white anywhere. How you could make your own yellow, or red, for example, and ensure it matches the wallpaper you just spent £700 on is beyond me!
I will be using it in the fullness of time - we haven't reached the limewashy bits yet.

Thats some expensive paper , I'm not surprised you want a good colour match.
I'm limewashing mine as I go along, no floors or repaired ceiling yet but I've limewashed my walls as I have repaired them, just to see how it looks.
And I'm very impressed.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I don't think the paper is wildly expensive it's just that I need 9 rolls, paste, lining paper etc. I hope not to have to do it again in twenty years or so!

Looking forward v much to pics of your limewashed walls, Rob. It must be so satisfying!