sand blasting beams.

[robgil]

i know i know , lots of people say not to , why?
ive tried to strip the sadolin off a few beams and some came out really good but others came out total pants. the ones that came out ok had a coating of limewash underneath.
so , sand blasting v,s chemical stripping.
has anyone here had beams sand blasted? any pics?
has anyone chemically stripped beams?

 

[cotegreen]

hi there, you will get everybody telling you on here not to sandblast your beams as it ruins the patina.... gives a drift wood effect, etc however whilst this is all true, it really depends how many beams you have to 'clean', what timescale you have and what 'mess' you can make. i have done both in my cottage and whilst the finish may be more original from chemical or hand cleaning, the actual man hours that it requires may not be suitable for your circumstances. If you are not living in the property and wish to move in ASAP then i would go for sandblasting. If however time is on your side and you do not wish to be covered in sand/dust etc then go for the chemical and elbow grease version. but be aware this can take a lot of effort that may or may not give you the finsih you require for example it can be very diifcult to remove paint etc from deep spilts in wood for example which sandblasting can do easliy. I suppose the best example of this would be an empty barn being renovated with lots of timbers would have to be sandblasted where as a small room in a house with one or two exposed timbers could be hand cleaned.

in terms of the finish, i really have no problem with the sandblast effect... in fact i quite like it , however it is personal choice and the die hards on here will say i am wrong. it really boils down to your own preference, how true to restoration you want to be and the time you have. Personally i would sandbalst it where i could!

i am sure you will hear contrasting opinions!!

 

[robgil]

i have read this about sandblasting http://www.protinus.co.uk/Oak-Black-Timber-Wooden-Beams-Cleaning-and-stripping.htm
apparently they use a hot mist of water and can bring the blaster down to 28psi.
i have a lot of beams , a whole house full of them , walls , ceilings , everywhere. they have been painted with what looks like sadolin which is more suited to garden fences.
the problem is all or most of these beams have adze marks and pit saw marks and i am afraid the sand blasting will remove or soften them.

 

[Flyfisher]

My understanding is that sandblasting is frowned upon by conservationists on the basis that it can be destructive to the original fabric of the building. Robgil's point about the various marks on his beams is a good example. Such marks might help identify constructional techniques or perhaps assist with dating. If they are removed (by any treatment) then they are lost forever. There is no going back.

Cosmetic appearance is a different matter and I agree it's a matter of personal choice, but only if it's reversible, which sandblasting almost certainly isn't.

An example of reversibility might be stripped pine doors. This is rarely authentic to the original period but (done carefully) it doesn't destroy or alter the actual door and it can easily be repainted at a later date. But a sandblasted beam, with all its markings, can never be fully returned to its original form.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

If it is going to destroy original fabric, in my view it is plain wrong to sandblast. A house that has been there hundreds of years should not be subject to the convenience of its present custodian. WHat would we say if EH had wanted to sand blast 1980's graffiti from Stonehenge because it was easier? (An extreme example I know :roll: )

We hand cleaned every beam (well, SWMBO did!). It was a soul destroying, messy, expensive and protracted job. The end result more than makes up for the hassle and inconvenience- and we acknowledge that the end result is not necessarily "authentic" as the beams were limewashed originally we think. We had the usual mix of various gunks,plasters and ultra-resistant poultices to remove.

We did have some stone blasted ( :shock: to remove tarry gunk from the chimbly before intending to replaster), and in one place it strayed onto the end of a beam - within nano-seconds it was turned into a mixture of driftwood and candyfloss.

Sorry to be a purist, but strippers and elbow grease or leave alone I recommend.

 

[LadyArowana]

We hand cleaned every beam (well, SWMBO did!). It was a soul destroying, messy, expensive and protracted job.

I have never done beams, but I recently revived a small oak window seat and can attest to the difficulties of removing even a fairly water soluable nasty finish. It is also worth considering that once you begin a course of action you have to complete or the result will probably be visually worse than what you started with. After about 3 days work on my piece I was beginning to wish I had just mended the damage and left it at that, had to put in the rest of the time to get it nice though.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I think your beams look lovely Rob. I'd just leave them as they are, and save yourself a whole load of trouble.

It would take you months, even years, to strip them all by hand, and I absolutely agree that sandblasting is entirely wrong, for the reasons already mentioned.

 

[robgil]

they look good in the photos Joce but in reality they do look kind of awful , they have years of gunky paint on them then a coat of sadolin to top them off.
i shall continue with the nb510 , its hard work and it will take a couple of passes at least but i have a feeling sandblasting would be too destructive for this old wood.
one pass on one beam every night is what i am pushing for, should be finished by next spring.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

one pass on one beam every night is what i am pushing for, should be finished by next spring.

Rob - this is your first period property project isn't it? That is such a rookie error! Like you I have moved to timescales expressed in terms of seasons (as opposed to something too specific like a particular month!) but I would not pushed into suggesting exactly which spring or autumn... especiialy if I had a new baby in the house!!!

8)

 

[Wren]

I wasn't planning to do any sandblasting, but did want to clean my beam up a little bit. Some areas are very flat, so in one tiny area I thought I would try cheating by seeing what would happen if I gently brushed the beam with a little bit of very fine sandpaper. It felt and looked totally wrong, and made me realise that sandblasting (if I had wanted to go down that road) or any other kind of sanding is out of the question. You might find you put your mind at rest if you try this on a tiny area - I found there was a difference between knowing theoretically that something is wrong, and actually feeling/seeing it.

 

[skier-hughes]

god it takes forever to hand strip, but it looks amazing. By hand stripping we've no doubt saved a few beams from being destroyed. We had to replace a few as tehy'd rotted just too much to be worth trying to save, but the parts which were solid have already been reused elswhere for repairs etc.
I'm not looking forward to starting the next rooms................ but I will do it all by hand.

 

[Feltwell]

god it takes forever to hand strip, but it looks amazing.

Having seen Graham's place for myself, I can testify to that - clearly a lot of work still to go, but what's been done so far looks really good, especially the beams in his kitchen.

(just put the cheque in the post please Graham!)

 

[Penners]

has anyone here had beams sand blasted? any pics?
has anyone chemically stripped beams?

Yes, no, yes.

Sandblasting - absolutely awful. The beams come out looking like artificial driftwood. Don't do it!

Stripping - tedious. But well worth the extra time and effort. Your beams will (eventually) look wonderful.

 

[mm289]

Just as a slightly different spin on this conversation, is it helpful to define what we mean by sandblasting?

There are a number of different media's that can be "blasted" using compressed are to remove surfaces/finishes, silica being a common one - and hence "sand blasting". Problem is, as stated by most on here, it is a pretty aggressive media and can cause a lot of consequential damage.

One of my other interests when not restoring our farmhouse (i.e. never at the moment!) is classic cars. One of the techniques being used in this industry uses baking soda or variants thereon as the blasting media. It is much less aggressive and can be washed of/cleaned up far more easily.

In the automotive world they use it for removing paint WITHOUT damaging metal/glass/surrounding materials which normal media blasting would do. I just wonder how this would work on timbers. Not tried it myself yet, but if you are interested in the technology here are the links to some automotive examples.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7mGGCVwl-E http://www.frost.co.uk/result_search.asp

Cheers

Paul.

 

[Flyfisher]

I've heard of this 'gentler' form of blasting compared with shot or sand, but I suspect it's only really gentler in the context of the metal and glass of motor vehicles.

The issue with many beams is that the outer 'skin' can be quite soft and friable due to woodworm even though the inner core of the beam can be rock-hard. If painted, the paint itself can be as strong as the outermost layer of wood. We certainly have a number of beams like this, where it's possible to remove bits with a fingernail yet impossible (almost) to hammer a nail beyond the outer, damaged, skin.

I'd worry that even a 'gentle' form of blasting would take of this outer skin of wood leaving the characteristic smooth 'driftwood' look.

I've never tried it so this is all supposition, but I'd certainly want to try a small section first before deciding for sure.

 

[robgil]

my beams are exactly the same , you can pick bits off with your finger. the problem with chemical stripping is you need to either scrub or pressure wash the residue off after stripping , so which will cause the least damage? or are they just as bad as each other?
on some of the beams i have washed with water even the little hand held garden sprayer that i use to rinse down with removes some of this rotten wood.