- Thread starter Melro
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Cubist
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Hi Meiro,
It really depends on what may have been used to stain them in the first place or indeed whether its just a build up of grime over a long period. I got lucky with our place, Fircroft, as the dark, almost black, timbers were due to a combination of the latter together with one of the previous owners use of a water based wax. For these I used warm soapy water, applied and agitated using a good old fashioned scrubbing brush - working top to bottom - to remove the bulk of the wax and dirt. In particularly stubborn areas I resorted to a wire brush but needed to take care not to remove too much of the softer grain-wood. After cleaning each beam I made sure to neutralise the the detergent by washing down with fresh water only. Pick a discreet spot and test to see if this method will work for you.
If your beams have been varnished or if a alcohol, or similar, based stain has been applied the solution above will obviously not work and you may need to consider whether to take a chemical approach to strip the varnish finish off, which may also lift any underlying stain, or perhaps consider having it removed using sand blasting kit; the professionals use a variety of softer materials than sand to reduce the impact on the soft grain-wood but considerable caution is still needed.
There are a number of threads in this forum about this topic and I would urge you to do a search on these as there will be more, and probably better, advice to be had. I'm sure though that other members will be offering some of their suggestions and experiences.
Cheers,
Cubist
It really depends on what may have been used to stain them in the first place or indeed whether its just a build up of grime over a long period. I got lucky with our place, Fircroft, as the dark, almost black, timbers were due to a combination of the latter together with one of the previous owners use of a water based wax. For these I used warm soapy water, applied and agitated using a good old fashioned scrubbing brush - working top to bottom - to remove the bulk of the wax and dirt. In particularly stubborn areas I resorted to a wire brush but needed to take care not to remove too much of the softer grain-wood. After cleaning each beam I made sure to neutralise the the detergent by washing down with fresh water only. Pick a discreet spot and test to see if this method will work for you.
If your beams have been varnished or if a alcohol, or similar, based stain has been applied the solution above will obviously not work and you may need to consider whether to take a chemical approach to strip the varnish finish off, which may also lift any underlying stain, or perhaps consider having it removed using sand blasting kit; the professionals use a variety of softer materials than sand to reduce the impact on the soft grain-wood but considerable caution is still needed.
There are a number of threads in this forum about this topic and I would urge you to do a search on these as there will be more, and probably better, advice to be had. I'm sure though that other members will be offering some of their suggestions and experiences.
Cheers,
Cubist
Hi Cubist Thanks for your advice and I will search the forum for other tips. This morning I took the time, as you suggested to clean up a small patch and the soapy water seems to be lifting the dirt, exposing a lighting wood underneath. So it’s looking positive. However it does need to dry off more. I’m hoping that the dark color
is in fact grime and dirt and when it was fashionable to stain the beams dark the previous owner just lived with the dirty beams rather than staining them. Fingers crossed!
is in fact grime and dirt and when it was fashionable to stain the beams dark the previous owner just lived with the dirty beams rather than staining them. Fingers crossed!
In our experience the 'drying off more' takes a surprisingly long time - they'll go on getting lighter for several weeks at least. Scrub/wash the beams until the water coming off is clean(ish) and they'll look dark, black in places and fairly horrible, particularly any nail or worm holes etc. Wait two days and they'll look better, but you'll think there's a lot of staining and that maybe destructive blasting/sanding is the route you should go with. Watch them for a week and they'll be a more even colour each day - maybe good enough to think about a wax or oil treatment - don't.
Then ignore them for a month and you may be really surprised - in a positive way
88v8
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Been a good few discussions about this.
One here
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14003&p=192193&hilit=waxing+beams#p192193
Depending where you are, plastic media blasting is another option that does not destroy the historic texture.
Example
http://www.blast-cleaning.co.uk/index.php?menuid=50&component=content&task=article&articleid=39&categoryid=9
Ivor
One here
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14003&p=192193&hilit=waxing+beams#p192193
Depending where you are, plastic media blasting is another option that does not destroy the historic texture.
Example
http://www.blast-cleaning.co.uk/index.php?menuid=50&component=content&task=article&articleid=39&categoryid=9
Ivor