Faux Wood Workshop

Most of our customers choose faux wood beams because they perfectly capture the rustic look of traditional timber. Available in several wood-colored shades – from walnut to cedar – you can also order them unfinished and stain them yourself to match the rest of the wood in your home.

Subtle color contrasts on painted beams are a great way to add structure to a ceiling

But one of the ceiling ideas that’s catching on is painting over our faux wood beams; creating a bold new look that adds a new dimension of versatility to our products.

To most people, the idea of painting over traditional wooden ceiling beams might sound strange. After all, recreating the look of wood or timber is the top reason why people install our faux wood beams in the first place.

But there are a number of reasons why painted ceiling beams could be just the look you’re going for. If you want to know why, look no further than the real timber beams used in historic houses across the East Coast and back in Europe.

For over a century, it was actually common for homeowners to paint their wooden ceiling beams a lighter color; rather than keep them bare. This was often to make a room appear lighter and more open during an era in which electric lights hadn’t been invented yet.

In fact, the ‘traditional’ look of naked wooden beams is actually a fairly recent interior design concept; attempting to recreate an “old world” look that might have never really existed in the first place.

So looking beyond the ordinary, today’s homeowners might want to consider painting their faux wood beams to match their walls or ceiling, rather than their hard wood flooring. There are a number of reasons why:

• It makes the room lighter. Dark wood or faux wood absorbs light, and makes the ceiling appear lower. Painting beams the same color as the ceiling, or a complementary shade, will help make rooms appear lighter and more open.
• It’s perfect for functional beams. Two popular uses for our faux wood beams are to cover seams in the ceiling, or to cover wiring and allow the seamless installation of recessed lighting. Painting these beams is a great way to match them to existing ceiling and wall colors.
• It’s more sophisticated. Beautiful interior designs modeled after the French renaissance, or New England coastal chic, often incorporate painted beams that contrast subtly with ceilings or walls. It’s a great way to add structure and depth to a room without making it appear boxy or closed in.

Painted beams maximize use of a room's natural light sources

Painting and staining our faux wood beams is a simple process. Almost all of our beams can be ordered unfinished or pre-primed, and then painted with high quality water based paint in the desired shade.

For only a couple of our products, like our timber or sandblasted beams, will you’ll need to use an acrylic all-purpose primer first. The rest can be painted straight out of the box.

For a good look at how one of our customers used regular paint to finish our beams, check out Frank’s story. And if you decide to use painted beams on your own home design project, make sure you send pictures to us at info@fauxwoodbeams.com – we’d love to showcase your hard work here!

Leah, from Pennsylvania, wrote to us with a question about how to install our faux ceiling beams for her kitchen remodeling project:

“My husband and I have decided that your faux wood beams are just the thing to suit the sloping ceiling in our new kitchen – but we have a question. Our kitchen is about 20’ long. How many beams should we install? And how far apart should they be?”

This is actually a common question – and there’s no right or wrong answer. That being said, we’ve got some information that might help:

Spacing beams is the key to making your faux beam project look authentic

Our beams are molded in tough and durable polyurethane to look exactly like the real thing; so obviously we recommend installing our artificial wood beams in a manner consistent with how “real” wood beams would appear on your roof or ceiling.

Traditionally, wooden beams were structural – so the distance between beams was more about how much support a ceiling needed, rather than what looked best.

If you’re considering installing faux beams, you should consider that when deciding how far apart you want to space them. Check out our guide to spacing faux wood beams.

The beams are also available in a range of thicknesses, so keep that in mind when planning how to install them.

In real building, thicker beams obviously gave more structural support – so you’d need fewer of them. That should be mirrored depending on the size of the beams you’ve ordered.

As a good rule of thumb, our most popular faux ceiling beams are sold in thicknesses of between 4” and 6”. In real design, you’d probably space structural wood beams about four feet apart if they were of that thickness. Therefore a convincing look can be achieved by spacing your own beams that far apart.

Thinner beams, like our 2½” beams, are created to mirror the interior ceiling beams used between the stories of older houses. These would generally be placed no more than two feet apart from each other, to give adequate support to the floorboards.

Finally, our thickest beams are the same size as sturdy structural wood beams that could practically support the entire weight of an older home. For a look that stays true to the way ceiling beams were traditionally used, you can separate our largest beams by as much as eight feet.

Remember, though, that you have a major advantage traditional builders didn’t: You’re not a slave to physics or architecture. If you feel what sounds right “on paper” won’t look good when they’re installed on your ceiling, you should adjust your installation to suit.

Ultimately, this is what Leah did when we gave her some advice on installation.

“My husband and I measured out the entire ceiling and marked the dead center line between one end of the room and the other. This was where we installed our first beam.”

“From there, we measured out the remaining space on either side of this central beam and considered what would look best. We were installing your 6” x 4” Faux Chamfered Beams and were aiming to separate them by at least four feet.

In the end, through, we realized that would look kind of goofy and asymmetrical; with the second row of beams closer to the wall than they were to the central beam.”

“So instead, we split the difference and added second and third beams midway between the wall and the central beam – a distance of 5” either side. It looked great and once they’d been installed, they looked just like they were authentic supporting timber beams.”

Our faux ceiling beams have many advantages, but perhaps the biggest is the freedom to install them how you want, according to your taste and design ideas. It’s one way in which faux wood doesn’t just look like the “real thing” – sometimes you can make it look even better.

If you have any suggestions or tips on how far apart to space your beams, let us know. Send an email and pictures to info@fauxwoodbeams.com.

Over on our sister blog, Creative Faux Panels, we’ve just finished highlighting the incredible fireplace remodel Mike and Chris Grace completed. They used our Faux Rock Wellington Dry Stack Tierra Gold Panels to get the look of real stonework in their living room; but the finishing touch was one of our own Tuscany Faux Mantels.

Mike and Chris started off with bare sheetrock and an angled wall.

The combination of a faux wood mantel shelf and faux rock panels looks terrific – practically indistinguishable from the authentic thing. But the real benefit was in the ease and practicality of installation.

“We were working on an inside wall,” Mike and Chris wrote, sending in pictures of their completed project, “so were concerned about the weight of installing a real wooden mantel. That would have required more work and money.”

With a real wood mantel weighing in at 100lbs or more, installation on an interior sheet rock wall would have been a significant investment.

Fortunately, our new Tuscany Faux Mantel weighs in at just a breath more than 7lbs – making it straightforward to install with regular trim head screws.

Molded from real timber in lightweight polyurethane, the faux wood mantel shelf fitted flush with Mike and Chris’ faux rock veneer and was sturdy enough to display potted plants and family trinkets.

What makes the use of a faux wood mantel so impressive, however, is the creative touch that Mike employed to make sure it matched his vision perfectly.

Our Tuscany faux mantel is available pre-finished, in authentic-looking cedar, oak or walnut finish, but the Graces ordered theirs unfinished so they could stain it themselves to match the rest of the wood and furniture in their living room.

Combining a faux wood mantel shelf with rock veneer panels delivered astonishly realistic results

You can find full instructions on how to stain our unfinished artificial wood beams and mantels right here.

As you’ll no doubt agree, the combination of dry stack veneer and the Tuscany mantel looks amazing – and both Mike and Grace are thrilled with the results.

“Friends and family have told us that our fireplace project has totally transformed our room,” Mike reports. “It now looks much more intimate and cozy.”

What do you think? And have you got a project that combines both our faux wood beams and our other top-quality faux building materials?

If so, make sure to reach out to us with pictures – we’d love to see them! Email us as info@fauxwoodbeams.com.

Artificial wood beams don’t just look amazing – they can be used to help cover up nagging design issues. Check out how one of our customers used our sandblasted beams to help perfect his new house’s sloped ceiling.

Ken's sheetrock ceiling had ugly seams he just couldn't seem to cover up

“The main room of our year-old house measures 17 feet square,” wrote Ken Broker, sending us pictures of the recent project he’d worked on in the front room of his new home.

“It has a sloped ceiling that rises from nine feet at its lowest to an apex of more than 13 feet.”

“The problem was that this ceiling’s side-to-side sheetrock seams seemed impossible to hide across the long expanse. Impossible, that is, until I discovered FauxWoodBeams.com.”

“I ordered four sandblasted beams – each one 19 feet long.  The six-inch square dimensions were just right for my high ceiling.”

So far, so simple; but Ken had one obstacle to overcome:

“I’d ordered a sample before buying,” he wrote, “and it was clear that the regular walnut color would not match our wood floor. That’s why, when I bought the four artificial beams, I ordered them unfinished.”

The problem was how to stain the beams so they’d perfectly match the rest of the wood in his main room. Ken approached this challenge methodically:

“I cut the unneeded 18 inches from several of the beams and used them to try various different approaches to getting the desired match. Lauren and Tina from FauxWoodBeams.com gave me lots of patient help during this stage – most valuable in giving me confidence!”

“It took five or six tries, each needing a day to dry, before I finally succeeded. I got the results I needed using a cherry gel wood stain in a one coat spread, applied moderately heavily with a cheap sponge brush and without wiping. It set the grain up perfectly.”

Ken used wooden blocks to mount his sandblasted artificial beams

“Next, I hired a carpenter and his scaffolding and laser beam to help me install the beams,” Ken wrote. “Because of the near 17-foot span and studs spaced every 24 inches, we had to use eight separate wooden mounting blocks and 3.5 inch screws for each beam. The good news is that we were able to measure for a very tight fit and built a large miter box to keep the cut straight.”

Installation was where the advantages of faux wood really revealed themselves. The sandblasted artificial beams Ken had ordered look practically indistinguishable from the real thing – especially after the incredible job he did staining them – but are made from polyurethane, for incredible lightness and flexibility.

The result was a product much easier to work with than real wood. “There was no splintering,” Ken wrote, “and so no touch-up staining was needed on the edges.” After installation, “I touched the screw heads with a dab of gel stain and they simply disappeared into the rest of the wood texture.”

The results are amazing - and seamlessly disguise the existing sheetrock seams

The installation was not without challenges; but they were manageable.

“Raising the beams without scratching the wall was a bit challenging. We also needed a third person to support the middle of the long beam with an extended mop handle when we held them up, so we could use 2.5 inch finishing screws to fasten the beams to the blocks.”

And the results?

“We love them! The beams add warmth and character and even some sound control to the space.”

And, even better than that, they seamlessly cover up the seams between Ken’s towering ceiling sheet rock – achieving his initial goal in a breathtakingly stylish and original way.

Modern home building techniques make it effortless to create towering cathedral ceilings – but how do you best fill all that empty space? One option is to create a wood truss with our sandblasted faux wood beams.

A faux wood truss is a stunning way to utilize the space in a cathedral ceiling

A cathedral ceilings is so-named because it resembles the stunning ceilings of classical churches and castles. These towering roofs were often held aloft with an intricate truss of wooden beams, which distributed the weight evenly to the stone and brick walls.

Although lighter, stronger building materials have eliminated the need for wooden trusses in most modern homes, it’s still a stunning look – adding a touch of history and majesty to a previously empty space.

Adding a wood truss to a modern cathedral ceiling might sound daunting, but it needn’t be. Using real wood beams would be impossible – the sheer weight of a single beam requires significant support, so a truss would need walls almost as thick as a cathedral’s!

A better option is to create your truss design with artificial wood beams – there are several different styles well suited to making trusses with. Our faux wood beams are intricately molded from real timber, so perfectly mimic the look and texture of real wood, but weigh in at under 18lbs each – making it simple and straightforward to mount them to any modern ceiling without reinforcement or bracing.

The trick to building a successful truss is planning. Check out our guide on how to build a truss with faux wood for more information. Once you’ve got a design in mind, construction is fairly straightforward. Our artificial wood beams are molded from polyurethane, which is tough and durable – but easily cut to shape and size with a regular wood saw. You can also join and install faux beams with regular screws.

This incredible ceiling truss design was created using three different sandblasted faux wood beams and matching faux wood corbels. Three-sided wood beams were using for the “chords” – the beams installed on the apex of the ceiling itself. A four-sided wood beam was using for the “king” beam and joining beams, giving the illusion of solid timber.

A few weeks ago, we showed you the incredible fireplace mantel our customer Luke had added to his Texas hearth. Well, not wanting to be outdone by the Lone Star State, Kansas residents Shelby and Brad sent us pictures of their own ambitious fireplace makeover!

Walnut Corbels complete the illusion of a real timber mantel.

“We’ve attached before and after photos of our mantel,” Shelby wrote to us. “As you can see, it makes such a statement.”

It does indeed – and what makes their makeover project even more impressive is that the stunning stone fireplace itself is “faux”. In fact, they built it from fire rated Carlton Castle Stone Veneer Panels, installed straight onto the existing fireplace surround with screws and glue.

“Then we picked your new Tuscany Faux Wood Mantel,” Shelby explained, “in Walnut. It really compliments the faux stone fireplace and hearth.” This decorative wood mantel is also available in Cedar or Oak – or unfinished if you want to stain it yourself.

“Your customer service was outstanding during our selection phase. You helped us find just the right mantle for our project.” In fact Tina, our customer service representative, even went a step further: “She guided us towards some matching Woodland Corbels in Walnut, to complete our project.

Molded from real timber, the decorative wood mantel looks exactly like authentic wood

“We received our products right on time and the installation was so easy.” Shelby and Brad were able to attach the decorative wood mantel directly to the wall itself, using a combination of construction adhesive, cleats and trim head screws. The matching Woodland Corbels attached underneath the mantel – giving the illusion of support for a heavy wooden beam.

“We’re very proud of the results – and we know you will be too!”

Faux wood mantels are a great alternative to the real thing – which can be expensive and difficult to install. Our faux wood fireplace mantels are designed for decorative use only and not intended to support heavy weight, but are perfect for pictures, vases and pretty much anything that people would normally display above a fire.

One thing you’ll have heard about our fake wood beams is that they’re easy to install. But don’t just take our word for it!  Check out these awesome photos the Reisinger family sent in of their own DIY home improvement project. Mom, Dad and Son teamed up to install three fake wood timber beams in just a single weekend.

They were kind enough to send in pictures from every stage of the installation.

First, here’s the ceiling of their beautiful family room. You can see why they decided wooden timber beams would be a nice addition – their cabinets and counter tops beautifully frame the room itself, but leave the ceiling looking sparse and bare.

The Reisinger's beautiful kitchen had a sparse cathedral-style roof

Steve Reisinger kicked off the installation by following the old carpenter’s lore – measure twice, cut once. Once measurements were in hand, he and his wife clambered up a ladder to install square wooden mounting blocks in the ceiling with screws.

Measure twice, cut once - the Reisingers followed the carpenter's rule when prepping to install their fake wood beams

One of the many advantages of using fake wood over the real thing is that Steve didn’t need to cut the beam to match the V-shaped apex of his ceiling. Because our faux wood beams are molded in a hollow U-shape, they can fit over the wooden mounting blocks Steve attached to the ceiling and both sides fitted flush to the ceiling. The only cutting Steve needed to do is to make sure the length is right – that’s easy enough with a regular wood saw.

The center beam slotted neatly over the pre-installed mounting blocks for a flush fit against both roof angles

Next came installing the beams. A real timber beam would weigh in close to 100lbs. Our faux timber beams are just 40lbs, which meant that Steve and his wife could easily maneuver them into place themselves. The light weight also means installing them is simple and straightforward – you can see from this picture Steve attached them to his mounting blocks with an electric drill and regular trim-head screws.

Steve and his wife installed the faux timber beams using an electric drill and trim head screws

Our faux wood beams measure in at 9’ 10” in length – which presented Steve and family with one of their first challenges: The length of their family room was almost double that.

Here’s where another of the advantages of faux beams paid off: Steve was able to ‘double up’ two lengths of beam to give the appearance of a single, seamless beam stretching across the length of the room. Although practically indistinguishable from the real timber they’re molded from, fake wood beams are always consistent in width and color, so it’s easy to attach two end-to-end to reach further than a single beam would allow.

Doubling up the faux wood beams gave the illusion of single, seamless length of timber

You can see on the furthest beam how Steve managed to complete the illusion of a single beam – by adding one of our Universal Flexible Straps to cover the seam between the two lengths of faux wood. Molded from flexible rubber, these straps perfectly mimic the iron bands traditionally used to reinforce timber beams.

Rubber mounting straps covered the join between the two lengths of faux wood beam

And job done! With three people and in just a few hours, Steve and his family managed to transform their family room ceiling.

“It’s an awesome look!” Steve told us when he sent in pictures – and he’s already planning the next family project: “The formal living room is next!”

Frank Macari wrote to us with the story of how our faux beam helped solve a recurring problem he and his wife had with the cathedral ceiling of their beautiful Pennsylvania home.

Frank had the added challenge of fitting his faux wood beam around an existing ceiling fan

“My wife and I purchased our home 21 years ago,” Frank wrote. “The bedroom had a cathedral ceiling and when the home was new, the seam looked good. However, as time has aged the house, the seam became increasingly difficult to keep intact.”

It has been repaired many times and due to the slight shifting of the ceiling, due to heat and cold, the crack would always come back over time.”

Due to the steaming summers and brutal winters common in Pennsylvania, Frank noticed a reoccurring crack opening up in the apex of their ceiling. “It’s been repaired many times, but due to the shifting ceiling always comes back over time.”

His solution was a simple one – covering the crack with a wooden beam – but the practicalities of this great home improvement idea were daunting.

“My wife and I talked about a beam, but because of the weight and amount of work involved, I kept putting it off.”

Eventually, Frank’s wife came up with a solution: A faux wood ceiling beam.

“She said that maybe we could buy a beam on line and keep it simple. Taking her advice, I looked on line and found www.fauxwoodbeams.com.”

The first challenge Frank encountered was the length of his cathedral ceiling: “Our room was longer than the biggest faux beam by about 8 inches.”

Fortunately, he had a brilliant idea about how to solve this problem – and we were happy to help.

Alan used a sample length to complete the illusion of a single, seamless wooden beam

“I requested a sample of the beam we were considering,” Frank wrote. “The typical length of sample was around 6 inches. I requested a sample about 9 inches and Fauxwoodbeams.com was very accommodating.”

After checking that they were happy with the sample, Frank went ahead and ordered the full-sized beam – one of our Regal Ceiling Beams. “Sure, the shipping was expensive, but worth it. It came in one long piece and undamaged.”

Now, with the 9 inch sample and the beam itself, he had the beginnings of a beam long enough to cover his cathedral ceiling. “I glued the two pieces together and let it cure. Afterwards, I used an automotive “Bondo” material and filled in the part lines. I sanded and primed, and repeated as necessary.”

Installation was straightforward – for the most part.

“The trick was how to get the beam into the bedroom in the first place, located on the second floor. In the end, we managed to bring it in through the bathroom window.”

“My wife, son and I positioned the beam close to the ceiling and I secured it with glue that I purchased from fauxwoodbeams.com and a power nailer.”

Once installed, the finishing touches were straightforward. “All that remained to be done was to fill the nail holes, caulk the edges and have the room painted. Now it was up, installed and looked beautiful.”

“My wife could not have been happier. “Mission accomplished” and now there are no more cracks in the cathedral ceiling joint.”

We’re always excited to see how our customers use our products for their new and innovative home design ideas – and one home improvement aficionado who recently impressed us was Jack McLauchlan, from Moses Lake, WA.

Jack had already used our faux ceiling beams and mantels to great effect.

Jack’s beautiful home is an impressive display of interior design. He’s used our Rough Sawn Ceiling Beams to elegantly enhance the sloping ceiling, and matched them with faux wood mantels and corbels on the wall.

But the touch that really impressed us was the way Jack also framed an interior staircase with our faux ceiling beams – building an artificial lintel from leftover Rough Sawn Ceiling Beam pieces and our matching Rough Sawn Corbels.

“Sheet rock was simply cut away from an underlying beam,” Jack explained, when he sent us pictures of the terrific job he did, “and then a left over piece of beam was slid into place.”

“I utilized sawn corbels, and also split off the faces of another partial woodland beam to back fill behind the ceiling beams, since they originally had a small gap that I wished to see filled.” The results are impressive – giving the impression that a length of exposed wooden beam frames the staircase and corridor.

Almost as impressive is how long this subtle, but significant redesign took (or rather, didn’t.) “It took about an hour. This was a very easy job requiring only minor adjustments.”

The additional wood beam makes it appear as if the ceiling is supported by the beams, and not the other way around.

The home design details were complimented by other improvements Jack had planned: “We added a granite and marble floor. Now the room really feels warm.”

So far, Jack’s been pleased with the reaction his hard work has garnered. “Those who have seen the results can’t believe them,” he admitted – and also added that he has further plans for improving the room.

“I’m looking forward to completing my “old world look” design,” he wrote, “and have a faux rock wall on the opposite side of the room planned for next year.” Just as he’s looking forward to completing his redesign, we’re looking forward to seeing the results. Make sure to send us pictures, Jack!

When Michel White, from British Columbia, decided to embark on his new home construction, he knew right from the beginning that it would require the use of faux wood ceiling beams.

Built overlooking the Sunshine Coast, Michel’s home is nothing short of a contradiction – built using the latest materials and techniques, but designed to resemble more traditional homes built decades – or even centuries – earlier.

Period fixtures compliment the Faux Ceiling Beams

That theme is most evident inside – where hardwood floors and enormous windows combine to give a real “country manor” air to the property. It’s an ambiance matched by period-style furniture and medieval collectables hanging from the wall.

Very clear is that a home like this would look completely out of place without the solidity of wooden beams hanging from the ceiling. This is presumably why Michel ordered them before the first bricks had even been laid.

“The beams arrived on time for our new house construction,” Michel wrote, when he sent us pictures of his faux Timber Ceiling Beams after they were mounted. “They were installed in one day and the effect is stunning.”

We don’t disagree – and think that Michel’s done an equally stunning job making sure that these brand-new beams look like they’ve hung from the ceiling for a century or more.

That authenticity is what Michel admits he was going for. He seems to take a lot of pride in admitting: “None of our friends believe that they are not real wood.” You can’t blame his friends, either. His Timber Ceiling Beams are intricately molded from authentic, hand-hewn timbers – and Michel went a step further by perfectly staining them to match the décor. It’s this extra touch which makes the beams so difficult to pick out as “not the real thing.”

Although built recently, faux wood beams make Michael's property appear much older and more venerable.

Just like with every other aspect of his homemaking, Michel completed the faux wood illusion with a little accessorizing. If you examine the photographs, you’ll see that one of the reasons these Timber Ceiling Beams look so authentic is that they’re all accessorized with a pair of color-matched Timber Corbels.

That look mimics how older buildings would have had similar beam supports sticking out of the wall; poking through the plaster that traditionally covered timber framed interior walls.

Michel’s use of our faux wood products is incredibly impressive because it shows real vision on his part. Even before his stunning new home construction was completed, he’d worked out how to use modern design components to mimic traditional construction techniques. The result is brand new home that looks absolutely traditional and original.