Monday, August 31, 2009

Gallery of Timber Faux Beams Installed in Homes

Here are a few pictures of timber faux beams installed in homes.









Here are a few pictures of timber faux beams installed in homes.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Patching and Caulking Faux Beams

Patching faux beams is simple and easy to do. Follow instructions below:


1. You can use colored wood filler or caulking to fill gaps and/or nail and screw holes.



2. Fill any gaps with a quality textured caulk. We offer a color-coordinated walnut caulk to match our walnut finished beams on our website.



3. Smooth out the caulk using a wet finger.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Installing Faux Beams on Cathedral Ceiling

Here are the following simple instructions in installing faux beams on cathedral ceiling.


1.


Measure the inside dimension of the faux wood beam to be mounted into the ridge.








2.


Measure and cut two blocks of wood for every 3-6 feet.









3.











4.


Pre-drill holes for screws, to prevent splitting the wood blocks.









5.


Use long-enough screws to go through the wood block, through the sheetrock or plaster, and then into the wood structure of the house.









6.


Place a second block of wood on top of the first one that you just installed. Pre-drill to prevent splitting. Then screw the second block of wood onto the first block.








7.


Repeat steps 2 to 6. Evenly space the blocks every 3 to 6 feet until you get to the other end wall. That block should also be about 10” to 12” from the side wall.








8.


Mark the location of each block of wood with blue painter's tape to make the next steps easier.









9.


Measure the length of the ridge (ceiling length) and cut the faux wood beam to fit.









10.


Dry fit the beam to ensure a proper fit.










11.


Using long enough screws with a small head, attach the faux wood beam to the blocks of wood at each location that is marked with the blue painter tape. One screw on each side of the beam at each location is sufficient.







12.


Don’t over tighten. Only screw it in so the head of the screw is only slightly countersunk.









13.


Fill in the screw heads with colored caulk or colored wood filler.









14.


Helpful hint: It isn’t normally necessary to cut the top edge of the beam on a level to match the pitch of the roof.










15.


Once installed, the edge of the faux wood beam will butt up tight to the ceiling.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sunday, July 5, 2009

How to Make Faux Beams Look Like Knotty Pine

Here are the easy to follow steps on how to make faux beams look like knotty pine.

1. Pick a desired water based stain for the knot. For this example we used Minwax American Walnut.


2. Apply the stain over Knot area. Remember to blot off any extra paint with a rag.


3. After the stain has fully dried, you will need a pine colored stain. For this example we used MinWax English English Oak.

4. Apply the pine colored colored stain to the beam. Remember to gentely wipe off any extra stain to desired effect.

5. Lastly, let the beam dry and your done!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

How to Install Faux Beams as a Truss

Here are the following instructions on how to install faux beams as a truss.


1. The materials you will need are steel cable, threaded eye bolt, plumb bob, cable clamps and turn buckle (optional)



2. Install threaded eye screw into peak of roof.





3. Install Ridge Beam.




4. Cut about a 4" diameter hole in the ridge beam. Plumb with the eye hook for the cable to go through.



5. Install Tie Beam.



6. Cut a block of wood to fit the inside dimension of the tie beam. This will for the center support.



7. Hang the plumb bob from the eye screw and lower it down to the tie beam.



8. Put the cut block of wood loosely in the tie beam and mark where the plumb bob is.



9. Mark the location of the block of wood.



10. Remove the block of wood from the beam. Drill a hole at the marked point on the block of wood for the threaded eye bolt.



11. Attach the treaded eye bolt with the washers and nuts to the block of wood. This is the center support beam.



12. Mount the center support block in the same spot as before. using the marks to find the same location.



13. Use both robertson trimhead screws and glue to attach the center support block into the tie beam.



14. Pull steel cable through the hole in the ridge beam.



15. Ceate a loop using a cable clamp.



16. Pull the other end of the cable through the center support eye bolt.



17. Pull up on the end of the cable to take any slack out of the cable. the proper tension on the cable is when the tie beam is perfectly straight and level.



18. Use another cable clamp to hold the loop at its desired length.



19. An optional turn buckle used on the length of the cable would aid fine tuning of its length.



20. Measure the distance from the bottom of the ridge beam to the top of the tie beam.



21. Cut the vertical 4-sided beam (both the three sided portion and the finishing cap.). Be aware of any metal screws that may be hidden in the beam.



22. Use stain or touch up paint on the edges of the 4 sided beam.



23. Install the 4 sided Beam to conceal the steel cable & hole in the ridge beam.



24. Glue the cap of the four sided beam into place.



25. Place the cap onto the 4-sided beam. Then use screws to hold the cap in place while the glue dries.



26. Glue and screw the 4 sided beam (Vertical King Post) into the Collar Tie Beam at the bottom and into the Ridge Beam at the top to prevent movement.



27. Rafter beams can be installed using standard beam installation.



28. Cut and add any additional braces as needed. These can be simply glued and toe screwed into place. Corbels too, can be added as desired.