Varnishing old wooden beams ( grade 2 listed building)

[petra]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone had any experience with preserving wooden beams in old buildings. We live in grade 2 listed barn, roughly 400 yrs old. There are lot of wooden beams inside, but they were never varnished or preserved in any way, and plus they had woodworm in at some point, so now are with many holes and keep chipping away. I would like to varnish it or apply something to preserve it, but not sure how to do it.

The trouble is that even when I try to clean them from dust, they are so fragile I can not do a good job as I have to be careful all the time.

Thank you!

Petra

 

[DJH]

Welcome Petra. I can't answer your question but I know there are many here who can. I think it's been discussed before.

Doug

 

[Penners]

Hello Petra

I wouldn't recommend varnishing your beams. Woodworm (anobium punctatum) lives in damp wood - that's how it gets its water. So your beams must be a bit damp. If you varnish them, you'll seal that damp in. Whereas if you allow the beams to dry out in a warm, ventilated atmosphere, the woodworm infestation should start to diminish (this won't happen quickly, but be patient for a few years!)

The way that you tackle the crumbliness of the beams will depend on just how friable and powdery they have become. If they're just a bit crumbly on the surface then a good solid wax polish could "glue" the surface together fairly satisfactorily. However, if they're extremely deteriorated, then here's a suggestion.

To stabilise the crumbly, powdery parts of some old oak window members, my daughter used a product called Bencon 20 Epoxy Consolidant, (http://www.benring.co.uk/our-products.html) with the approval of her Conservation Officer. It worked extremely well and has stabilised and strengthened the oak very effectively.

After you've done this. I suggest you give your beams a waxing with a solid wax polish. You might need two or three applications.

 

[Moo]

My word - it must be very good indeed. Have a look at their Projects page and you'll see that if you use it you'll be in good company.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Only the best will do for the Penners family!

 

[agbagb]

I've had success giving friable beam a good brushing of shellac (very thinned down) sanding sealer. Then sanding to a reasonable profile and filling the really rough bits with sanding dust mixed with shellac. This can be sanded back leaving a good surface to apply wax.

 

[middi]

I would like to contribute, I would only repeat what Penners has already advised ( with the addition of some spelling mistakes :wink: )

Middi

 

[livias]

I always have plenty of lime putty to hand
What! do you mean that not everyone does
so I make up some lime water, which is lime putty in water (the same as limewash but thinner) which is then allowed to settle out to give a clear 'water'. Some of the lime remains in suspension in the water

I then spray it onto the timber. Once a day for a week or so until I get bored.
Remembering to rinse the spray head every day or it will block up

By doing this I am gently turning the oak to (lime) stone

It works a treat, it is dirt cheap and conservation officers are happy with it
Whats not to like?