Finishing unpainted beams

[Telsun]

Hello people, been lurking for a while and now have a question that I cannot find the answer to;

We have an old oak beam that we uncovered when renovating our house. We wish to leave this beam (and those surrounding the room) partially exposed but they are in quite a state, no paint but they're grubby a bit rough and need finishing. The beam we have downstairs looks nice and we wish to replicate the way that looks. How do you clean beams, remove rough edges (ie splinters) and what should we use to finish it off with?



We'll create an introduction thread soon but in short we have a Grade 2 listed mid terrace house built in 1731 which has had extensive modernisation which we would like to undo and restore some character back into it. The property was in my family for about 80 years only to be sold in the 70's. When it came up on the market two years ago I knew that we just had to have it! So here we are

In addition we're also trying to buy the Grade 2 listed shop 2 doors down, but that's another story....

 

[Zebra]

Well on the one hand perhaps those beams weren't intended to be exposed, and perhaps anything you could do to make them acceptably smooth would be detrimental to them, in terms of historical integrity.
That said, I would suggest doing as little as possible to them. Don't sand them. Simply brush them with a soft-ish brush to remove anything that's loose; wash with warm mildly soapy water and a sponge if you like; if there are any sharp splinters which you catch your clothes on then perhaps cut the tips off them with a hacksaw, removing as little material as possible, don't pull a great chunk off; then give the beams a couple of coats of linseed oil.

 

[88v8]

Welcome.

Olde family house. Do you have olde pics from 80 years ago?

You want to run a business in a listed building... glutton for punishment, eh?

Beam... pictures? Use Photobucket or the like, and copy/paste the img code.

Ivor

 

[Penners]

I would suggest doing as little as possible to them. Don't sand them. Simply brush them with a soft-ish brush to remove anything that's loose; wash with warm mildly soapy water and a sponge if you like; if there are any sharp splinters which you catch your clothes on then perhaps cut the tips off them with a hacksaw, removing as little material as possible, don't pull a great chunk off; then give the beams a couple of coats of linseed oil.

I second that sensible advice, with a couple of minor alternative suggestions.

First, you'll probably have more success if you do the soapy water wash with a scrubbing brush rather than a sponge. A stiff-bristle floor scrubbing brush should do the trick - scrub along the grain rather than across. Dry off the surface with old towels immediately afterwards and let it air-dry thoroughly.

Secondly, I prefer a soft (but not liquid) wax finish to an oil one. I find the wax easier to manage and (once dry) it has less tendency to build up a slightly sticky surface that dust can cling to. There's nothing wrong with linseed oil - it's just a matter of personal preference.

 

[skier-hughes]

I like a good stiff scrubbing brush, or have used a brass wire brush, but am in the linseed oil camp. Use a quality oil, not just any old one!

 

[Zebra]

Yes, a scrubbing brush, of course. I guess it's a judgement which has to be made depending on the condition of the wood. Too stiff a brush on too crumbly a beam, and it could remove too much material, or scar the wood.

 

[Telsun]

Great stuff, thanks for the advice. We're going to attack it with our scrubbing brushes in a little while.

Here are some pictures as requested:

So you can see the beams are reasonably clean already but they do have gouges out of them, I'm not sure how these will look once cleaned and oiled. All the beams were hidden behind plasterboard which had been done during the modernisation in the 80's.

These beams are downstairs in our kitchen and reception room (our living room is on the 1st floor) and look great:

 

[Penners]

Personally I wouldn't dream of trying to do anything to "tidy up" the rough edges on those beams. They're wonderful!

After all, you're not going to be running your hands along them or snagging your tights on them, are you? (Unless you're considerably more athletic than I am!!)

Honestly - I should wash and wax-or-oil them. Conserve their historic character!

 

[Zebra]

Agree. They don't look too bad at all. A wash and a wax or oil, and they'll look great.