Faux Wood Workshop

If one of the prefinished beams on our site suits your project to a T, you should definitely go ahead and order it. Staining a pile of unfinished beams is way down the list of things that most of us love to do. It’s messy, time-consuming, and (let’s face it) pretty boring.

But no prefinished beam can fit everyone’s needs and plans. You might want something more distinctive than a traditional walnut or pine color. And some of our beams are only available unfinished. With all the effort and expense you’re putting into your project, you want the result to be right — including the exact color of your beams.

If you’ve done much staining, you know colors can be hit-or-miss. You know the color on the lid of the can or the chart at the hardware store can only give a general idea of how the finish will actually look. And it’ll look different on polyurethane than on pine or oak or maple.

Thank goodness for free samples!

In case you don’t know: You can order a sample of any beam we sell. Order as many as you want, because they end up being free. It’s true: When you decide what you want, and place your order for the actual beams, you can deduct from the beam order every penny you paid for the samples. (Well, unless you went overboard and paid more for the samples than the whole cost of the beam order.)

That means you can order several samples of different beam styles, try out different stains and techniques on them, and see what you’re going to get before you commit to the Big Order. Let the stain dry completely before you reach any conclusions. And be sure to choose and apply finishes according to the instructions on our web site.

Sure, it takes some time and some fussing. But the results are worth the effort.

You can learn a lot about the beam styles and colors you’re considering by looking closely at the photos on our website. Open two or three different product pages side by side and compare. Drag several of the closeups from your browser window to your desktop, then open them all in an image viewer so you can examine the differences. Make each one a desktop background and live with it for a while on your screen.

But if a picture is worth 1000 words, an actual sample is worth 10 times that. A photo can tell you just so much about the way a certain texture will look in person. And the glowing image on your computer screen can’t show you how a beam will look in the actual lighting conditions of your family room or bedroom.

The great thing about samples is that they’re free. Well, you have to pay a few bucks for them up front, but then you get your money back when you place an order for the beams you’ve picked (or corbels, or whatever). Order as many samples as you like, and then use the coupon you get with the samples to take their entire cost off your next order. You can order them from individual product pages or from the central Product Samples page.

Bonus tip: If you’re a builder or architect, you can order a whole kit of samples at no cost. See our website for ordering information.