id this timber?

[robgil]

is this oak? i have just washed it so its wet in the photos.

its a huge big joist support beam.

 

[MdB]

It looks like pine to me - however I'm a complete non expert so ignore this. Wait for somebody like Biff to come along and give his verdict.

 

[Feltwell]

I'm with Mdb - looks like softwood of some kind to me. But I also wait for the opinion of someone more knowledgeable than myself......

 

[JoceAndChris]

Wish I could identify it, but concur with the others that it doesn't look like oak, whose grain is short and tight and not prone to knots.

It looks similar to my floorboards, which I think are elm. But I'm no expert in this!

 

[Penners]

I'm sure it's not oak.

Could be elm or could be some sort of softwood.

I'd plump for elm.

 

[robgil]

i thought it might be elm , they wouldn't have used a soft wood would they? surely not as a joist support beam? if it is a soft wood its in much better shape than most of the oak in the house.

 

[Penners]

they wouldn't have used a soft wood would they?

Nothing's impossible, depending on who "they" were.

But elm is much more likely.

 

[robgil]

this is true Penners , i think the fire place that this beam runs across is also a later addition so perhaps they did use a soft wood , i have been told the fire place is Georgian.
this is it , you can just about make it out running under the joists from one side of the room to the other , it is covered in cement dust so its hard to make all of it out.

 

[Penners]

perhaps they did use a soft wood

I still think that, in your photos, it looks more like elm.

 

[Matt Green]

That does not look like elm to me, my money would be on pine- but i've been known to lose money on those sort of bets!
Easy way to tell though: cut a very small piece out and sand the end grain. Then see if it looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66328707@N00/4853848842/

It's much easier to speciate wood with good end grain photos.

M

 

[Flyfisher]

i thought it might be elm , they wouldn't have used a soft wood would they? surely not as a joist support beam? if it is a soft wood its in much better shape than most of the oak in the house.

One of our bedrooms has a large beam spanning the front to back of the house, about 6.5m long, which supports the ceiling/attic floor joists. One end of it was in the process of parting company from the wall plate/roof plate so I made some steel brackets to tie things all together. The wall/roof plate was very tough oak but when I drilled through the beam there was the unmistakeable smell of fresh pine. This was in the oldest part of the house, supposedly dating back to 1550.

So I wouldn't discount the possibility of pine beams just because the house is old.

 

[d49xc]

The older the pine is the harder it will be - and more like a hardwood than the softwood it is.
Present day 'pine' is grown too fast - older pine will have been much more slowly/natually grown: the rings would be much closer together etc.
This is why old pine is much sought after in reclamation yards
Indeed pitch pine was used as an oak substitute in making things like doors etc.
I'd say pine in this case.........

 

[robgil]

if it is pine then there may be a chance that the joists are also pine , i just cannot help thinking bad words such as 'ikea' when i think of pine or 'chalet'.
still once cleaned up it might look nice against the old oak studs , providing they are oak. i hope i dont have a pine house here. cereal bars for breakfast , chocolate flavoured cheese and mid winter plunges into outdoor ponds after sitting in a room full of steam for hours really isnt my bag at all.

 

[Feltwell]

if it is pine then there may be a chance that the joists are also pine , i just cannot help thinking bad words such as 'ikea' when i think of pine or 'chalet'.
still once cleaned up it might look nice against the old oak studs , providing they are oak. i hope i dont have a pine house here.

Oy! Some of us who live in "new build Barrett boxes" - well, compared to your place my 111 year old house is a new build - have to put up with pine throughout!! :lol:

There's pine and there's pine (and actually a lot of it isn't pine at all). An old beam like that is highly unlikely to end up looking like a 1970's orange pine T&G ceiling. I reckon it will look great once you've got it all cleaned up, whatever it's made of.

 

[Moo]

Did you know that Box is the hardest wood of any European tree - twice as hard as oak - and is said to be as durable as brass?

 

[Penners]

And it's denser than water, so it sinks.

Mind you, its position as the hardest European timber is often challenged by Hornbeam. Actually, Box probably is denser, but Hornbeam tends to resist wear better. Hence its frequent use for the sprockets of mill gears.

 

[biffvernon]

That does not look like elm to me, my money would be on pine- but i've been known to lose money on those sort of bets!
Easy way to tell though: cut a very small piece out and sand the end grain. Then see if it looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66328707@N00/4853848842/

It's much easier to speciate wood with good end grain photos.

M

Yes, I'd vote pine but here's another cross section of elm

 

[robgil]

It looks nothing like that Biff , it is similar to Matts photo but not quite.
I cannot get a good look at the end grain and dont particularly want to go hacking bits out of my beam but i did manage to break off a bit of worm damaged wood from the corner behind a daub repair , its very small so i am not sure if the wood can be properly i.d'd with it.

 

[Penners]

Rob - when did you last get a manicure?

Disgraceful!

:wink:

 

[robgil]

I know , just look at that big brown thing growing out the top of my thumb, it looks like a piece of wood.