Internal oak

[Keithj]

The oak doors thread made me start thinking (always a risky business)...

We have a lot of new oak around the house following the restoration. Wherever possible, we're leaving the exterior oak untreated in the expectation it will eventually turn a nice silvery colour. At the moment it's still depositing tannin on the lead and the lime render as the rain soaks it. If this drought ever stops, I'll clean the tannin off.

However: should I be applying anything to the oak studs etc inside? At the moment they are plain oak, untreated. I sanded off the writing one of the builders seemed to feel the need to add. I also sanded off the couple of black smudges from the sawmill.

 

[robgil]

If you are happy with it , leave it as is.

 

[biffvernon]

And if you are not happy try linseed oil (in an unobtrusive corner to see if you like it).

Or beeswax - the sort that is diluted with turps to be painted on floors can give a nice effect and is easy to apply. Remember you can put wax on top of linseed oil but not oil on top of wax.

Or just paint it all bright red.

Or look at this thread: http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12964&view

 

[Penners]

Personally I like oak beams to be natural and uncoated with anything. The only exception to this is if they are rather friable and shedding dust - in which case follow Biff's advice above. The red paint can be replaced with another colour if your political leanings dictate this.

 

[skier-hughes]

Whereas I love the look and smell of linseed, so all my oak is linseed oiled. It can affect the shade of oak, so be aware you will darken it and some pieces will darken much more than others.

 

[LadyArowana]

Personally I like oak beams to be natural and uncoated with anything. The only exception to this is if they are rather friable and shedding dust - in which case follow Biff's advice above. The red paint can be replaced with another colour if your political leanings dictate this.

Red is a nice auspicious colour whatever your politics or foosball team.

 

[Keithj]

Thank ye all.

It won't be red, since that wouldn't fit in with the rest of the house. Based on what you say, I'm inclined to leave it "natural" and see what develops. I can always add linseed oil or whatever later. The main thing is that it's not going to suffer.

The beams in the house were painted black by the bodging builder, and there's too much of that to remove it.
The timbers in the attic had been limewashed - in the era when there was one large upstairs. I left them as they are.

 

[88v8]

Or....
http://www.woodworking.org/WC/Garchive01/3_27colorants.html

I fancy the coffee method. Subtle variations may be acheived by suitable dunking, choc chip digestives will provide a modest enrichment.

Ivor

 

[Penners]

In my previous incarnation in the furniture industry, I experimented with both tea and coffee as stains for wood. I found that, while they both had some staining effect at first, this faded slowly over time.

I notice that the article on your link also mentions fuming oak with ammonia. I just want to re-emphasise the warning in the article - this is a dangerous process if you don't know exactly what to do and how to do it. Don't mess with concentrated ammonia!

 

[skier-hughes]

What were the shades Penners, aristocraic lady, middle class, working class, builders tea?