Thread: Sanding exposed beams

I tried that once on a 4m long oregon beam that was painted white. I used a powerful belt sander and when I got half a metre along the beam and then realized that the paint had gotten into cracks in the timber. I tried picking, scratching, gouging the paint out of the cracks which made everything look worse so in the end I milled that orgeon up for something else. I was doing all this on a bench, I would most definitely not be doing it over my head. If you like a timber look it will be a lot of work but it will be easier to clad the beams with some 6 mm pine panelling and stain to suit - it could look quite nice.

I agree with BobL, it would be a next to imposible mission so unless you can get Tom Croozie to do it give a big miss. Cladding is the go but I would use soild timber rather than the paneling. Good luck

Have to agree with Bob and Claw ( sounds like an English pu name, doesn't it? )

Not something I would attempt because, London to a brick, it's rough sawn Oregan. The ubiquitous Mission Brown is ablot on our cultural history!

I have only seen it on T.V where they have sandblasted exposed beams and seems to come up good but I think it would be very messy, time consuming and expensive but it might be worth looking into.
You may be able to hire a sandblaster. Im sure someone has tried this procedure on this forum that might be able to enlighten you.

....Mark

Originally Posted by West OZ Mark

I have only seen it on T.V where they have sandblasted exposed beams and seems to come up good but I think it would be very messy, time consuming and expensive but it might be worth looking into.
You may be able to hire a sandblaster. Im sure someone has tried this procedure on this forum that might be able to enlighten you.

....Mark

If you use a sandblaster on Oregon you will end up with a scalloped and rustic look. This is because of the hardness differential across a growth ring so the sandblaster will abrade the softer part of a growth ring in preference to and leave the harder part raised - if you are after a rustic look it will be OK. However if it was rough sawn you will still have to sand a lot of timber off to get below the mission brown and if you have cracks the mission brown will stand out like the proverbial. cladding would still be an easier option.

Could also try some paint stripper first, and the a belt sander afterwards.

You could always use some paint stripper to see the timber underneath and see whether the paint is embeded in cracks etc. I am a great lover or exposed wooden beams and know that I would spend hours stripping them back to get the look I want, even if I could only do one at a time over a period of months, but that is me. A heat gun can lift the paint but there is the risk of overheating it and starting a fire. I think there is some sort of Infared? gun you can get that is supposed to do a good job, do a search and see what comes up.

Donna

Electric planer???

Originally Posted by blute

Electric planer???

Err . . . above your head . . . r u serious!

Anyway it's still not gonna the MB outta the cracks!

Accessibility is awful and awkward and as others have said any attempt to physically remove will likely end in tears and a poor result. Cladding with suitable timber is the way to go.

You could use panelling which can vary from 8mm - 12mm (or so) and comes in various profiles and timbers or you could use timber shelving or planks - usually around 19mm thick and in various widths depending upon the timber.

I have used tongue & grooved (T&G) western red cedar panelling with and without VJ profiling (grooving) that I trimmed off the T&G edges, I have also used cedar planks, pine panelling and planks, oregon, tassie oak, red and pink meranti (pacific maple) and in one place just local mixed hardwood 70x19 flooring that I trimmed the T&G off and nailed & glued directly to the beams (simply chamfering the bottom edges with a plane (you could use a router). Any timber really - depends on the look you are after or are happy with - the one I did with flooring ended up looking like expensive laminated beams.

All were relatively easy, choice was on timber colour and finishes have varied from rough sawn with no coating at all to finely sanded and varnished. On a ceiling the extra with and depth added to the exposed beam makes little aesthetic difference as the proportions remain the same - the beam is just slightly bigger.

Quite easy to do for a competent layperson and requires just careful measuring and cutting. The only complex matter is to use bevel gauge to get the angle cut at the ends right, but even that can be done by just scribing a template. Safe scaffolding is important as the beams are often higher than a standard 2.4m ceiling, but mostly saw horses or step ladders and good planks between will be OK.