Should I keep these false black beams?

[Flyfisher]

I was using 'polystyrene' in a generic and quite probaby technically incorrect way. I'm not sure of the exact composition but they were definitely some sort of plastic/foam. Quite realistic-looking actually, in a 'kit-pub' sort of way. One even had a peg in the side, so it was obviously a reclaimed beam .

They didn't last long after we moved in though.

 

[showqa]

God no, my "beams" are nothing like that, although I've had my terminology corrected and they're joists. The end result is the same from where I'm sitting!

 

[claireclaire]

it's always been a residential property, yes.... not ex- warehouse/industrial.

thanks for everyone's answers, it is nice to find a friendly, helpful forum like this

 

[Penners]

Well, I don't know how you would define fake beams. They hold up the floor above - rafters then I suppose you might call them. And then there's a huge beam in the kitchen inglenook and a similar one over the fireplace in the sitting room.

claireclaire - showqa's response above, and Nemesis' subsequent comment, have made me stop and think.

I suppose you are absolutely certain that these beams are fake? I mean, every multi-storey house has beams - they form the structure that supports the ceiling of the lower room and the floor of the upper room. It's just that, in Victorian times (with certain exceptions) they weren't normally exposed.

I just thought that was worth clarification, before you make the final decision to rip them out!!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

MdB.

You've done a great job there! And I love all that retro stuff you've found on eBay.

 

[Moo]

To add to Penners' thought - if your beams/joists are really original, some previous owner may have ripped the ceiling out (or perhaps it just fell down) and they so like the olde worlde look that they just painted the wood and never replaced the ceiling.
Does that seem possible? If you think it does, and you really hate the beams, it would be simple enough just to put back the ceiling.

 

[Gervase]

...though usually, if the beams supported a ceiling, they're chock full of nail holes where the laths once were.
Nice pic, by the way - looks like part of the set for Abigail's Party!

 

[Gervase]

...though usually, if the beams supported a ceiling, they're chock full of nail holes where the laths once were.
Nice pic, by the way - looks like part of the set for Abigail's Party!

 

[Gervase]

Sorry, seem to be repeating myself!

 

[Penners]

It's anno domini.

I do it all the time.

It's anno domini.

 

[claireclaire]

Well they're definitely not supporting... most of them don't quite meet the walls at the ends, they are just screwed to the ceiling

 

[Gareth Hughes]

From claireclaire's description of herringbone brick nogging and timber frame externally, this sounds like a Victorian Tudor-revival house in which case (depending on how grand it is, and it would be useful to have some pictures), beamed ceilings might be "correct", at least in some rooms, though simply stuck on doesn't sound right for the 1880s.

 

[middi]

I agree with Gareth, its sounds more like a B & Q job to me.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Claireclaire, does it look anything like either of these two?: