Most of us are aware that wood and moisture don’t mix. Particularly in areas subject to high humidity such as a bathroom, sauna or pool area – most people avoid using wood products on their floors, ceilings or walls. Even if the wood is “finished” with a stain or sealer, eventually that water is going to find its way in to cause cracking, paint peeling, rot and possible health-threatening mold.
Unfortunately, this restricts a home or business owner from getting the unique look of wood that they want within these types of areas. Fortunately, there is a solution.
Faux wood beams and ceiling panels are all made of polyurethane – a petrochemical-based material with a closed cell structure that is impervious to moisture, and which also prevents the “moisture migration” beneath coatings or paint that causes peeling.
A large-scale example of a design that used Woodland faux wood beams and ceiling panels in a high-humidity area can be found at the Ameristar casino in Black Hawk, CO. Jeff Arnold, the Project Manager of the construction firm that handled the build explains the project:
“As part of a hotel addition to an Ameristar casino, we needed to cover steel trusses 35 feet above an indoor pool. Because we could get custom-sized beams from FauxWoodBeams.com, we could wrap them perfectly around the steel. The faux beams are lightweight and waterproof, ideal for the humid environment high above the pool. And they look exactly like real wood, very high-quality. I’m really impressed.”
Maybe you have parts of your own home or place of business where you’d like to get that wood look on the ceiling, but shied away because of moisture concerns. Go ahead – let it get hot and steamy – faux beams can take it!
See how other customers used Woodland faux ceiling beams in their own home at our gallery of project photos. If you prefer a stone or brick look for your walls, Faux Panels are made of the same polyurethane material that is immune to moisture.
There’s nothing quite like receiving an effusive testimonial from one of our customers! Jeanette Hiscox, from Arizona, and her husband used our sand blasted ceiling beams to completely transform their home. Jeanette was able to unify her common spaces and provide a rustic charm to her previously humongous, yet bare, ceiling. Here’s what Jeanette had to say about her project, in her own words:
Jeanette’s Room Makeovers with Faux Ceiling Beams
We are thrilled DAILY when we enter our “public rooms” and see the beams on the ceiling! Everyone’s jaws just drop and then they recover with a “WOW”! Most people ask us if the house was built with the beams and we let them know that we recently installed them.
We bought this house as our retirement abode. We liked the vaulted 16′ ceilings and all the space they created in the nearly 1300′ public room area. This area includes the dining, living, media and kitchen and kitchen dining rooms. For the first two months after we bought the house, I was searching for a way to unify these spaces.
It took a while to convince my husband to use the faux wood ceiling beams, but now he proudly accepts compliments for the installation! Thank you for supplying the samples because that allowed us to look at the material, gave us a chance to practice custom staining the beam and practice mitre cuts. The sample practice went so well, we knew we could take on this project successfully— even if it meant staining all 15 beams that were 19′ long each!
The Ceiling Design ProjectBegins
From the time we ordered the faux beams from you, we were anticipating the shipment. Delivery day came and we did exactly what you instructed us to do. My husband and I helped the truck driver unload the amazingly light but really long boxes. We laid them in our driveway and proceeded to cut the straps and peel off the long corner protectors. As you know, most boxes had 4 beams but the 9″ deep “headers” arrived in individual boxes. Each beam had it’s own plastic sleeve. My husband and I easily maneuvered the beams, being careful not to stack them more than two high. We found one that was cracked and the driver so noted it and your company immediately replaced it. Initially we thought we should use one continuous piece for each beam, but after doing this project we see how one could easily piece any beam length together, just as you could wood products.
I personally primed each beam, which I found easy to do—if you have the space! I also custom-stained each beam to a rich, dark brown color. I followed the exact primer deep base product recommended on your website. I used a Home Depot deck stain for the staining process. Personally doing this part provided me a great sense of accomplishment.
Installing the Faux Ceiling Beams
We followed your online directions: snapping chalk lines for location identification and putting up wood blocks in which to screw the beams to. Planning which beams to start with and actually installing the first one seemed to take the longest time. Once the first beam was in place, we knew this ceiling design project would have incredible results. We also spent a lot of time admiring the first two header beams once they were in place! By the way, we did this installation during the hottest month of the year— outside temps were over 100 degrees and we are nearing retirement age!
We used a mitre saw outside on saw horses that were padded as to protect the stained beams. We measured, cut and installed each beam one beam at a time. We started with the large “header” beams and worked outward. Each 17′ beam segment got 4 wood blocks installed in the ceiling to help hold it in place. We never used any glue product…it was not necessary. It took two of us two days working 5 hours per day to install the 15 beams.
We found the ceiling beams were very easy to cut, whether it was an angle cut on the ends or long lengthwise cuts. We had a couple of mitre or fussy cuts that took more attention and time— exactly as a real wood beam would need.
Beam Design Finishing Touches
We are “detail driven” people, so I did put dark color wood putty over the screw heads. I also had a little jar of stain and a small brush to re-apply the stain in a few areas as needed. I should mention that preparing the beams with primer and stain allowed me to apply these products where we made fresh cuts to the beams so there would be no original color showing.
Once again, the product was easy to work with and provided amazing results. I even told my husband to stop calling them “faux” beams and start referring to them as simply beams! Your company’s beams have helped us transform a vast plain ceiling into a spectacular 5th wall!
Thanks again,
Jeanette Hiscox
View the slideshow below to see all the photos from this project.
We write a lot here about solid, three-dimensional faux wood beams and accessories, but let’s not forget about the flatter side of life: faux wood panels. You can find these at our sister site FauxPanels.com, and they come in styles that coordinate with some of our most popular beams and accessories.
Two of the newest panels at FauxPanels.com are Woodland and Raised Grain, and they’re each part of a larger family of faux products. The Woodland family includes custom beams, corbels and mantels. The Raised Grain family includes beams, corbels and scrolled-end beams.
When you combine solid beams and accessories with flat panels in a single project, you can get really amazing results. The photo below shows what one of our customers did with Raised Grain beams and panels to transform a high ceiling into an architectural feature that defines the entire room.
So today’s tip is simple: When you’re thinking about using faux beams for your project, think beyond the beam. Think about the flat stuff as well.
We were honored and excited to once again be a part of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Really, you have to be there to understand just what it feels like to be part of that great effort. Exciting and worthwhile and great people and hard work. Great combo.
This time we were able to help the Williams’ family, of Pine Mountain Valley, GA. Their story is inspiring. The family of four had been living in a space much too small for two disabled family members—football coach father Jeremy has Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) and the Williams’ young son, Jacob, is paralyzed from the waist down due to spina bifida. EMHE, with the help of football star Michael Oher and pop singer Demi Lovato, swept in to give the Williams’ the home of their dreams.
We donated materials for two different rooms. Take a look at what we did — it might give you some ideas for your own projects.
Faux wood beams played a major role in daughter Josie’s bedroom makeover. Rustic Barn Wood faux panels and Timber Ceiling Beams helped give horse-lover Josie a brilliant equestrian-themed room, complete with a faux horse stall and hay sofa.
In keeping with the country feel of the room, we installed our Brown Rustic Barn Wood as wainscoting panels around the room. The faux wood paneling was two panels high and cut at intervals to accommodate the long shuttered windows. Then we used faux timber planks to add a ledge to the wainscoting and frame the top section of the windows.
To finish the ceiling, we lined straight Timber faux ceiling beams, accented with beam straps, along most of the ceiling. We also used two cross beams above the horse stall area.
The EMHE team chose the Pecky Cypress faux beams to spice up the kitchen’s vaulted ceiling. You can create this look in your own home by placing one long beam to run the length of the ceiling, and then use six smaller beams to attach perpendicularly to the beam on one side and the wall on the other. Then just cut window headers to size to complete the look.
We are so proud to be a part of this deserving family’s gift.
Thinking about getting the knots on your new Faux Wood Beams to stand out like real knotty pine wood? Follow these few easy steps to get your beams looking great!
First you must pick the stain for your beam, in this example we used American Walnut by Minwax.
You will need to apply the stain to the knot area of the beam using a small paint brush. When you have finished, you will need to remove any extra stain. you can blot it off using a rag.
After the stain has fully dried, you will need to coat the beam with an overall stain.We used English Oak by Minwax.
You can use a larger brush to stain the whole beam. Remember to remove any extra stain.
Let the beam dry and your all set!
Here are some beams that a customer had this process done to.
The following are a few steps in order to help you to get thoes tricky angles cut just right when installing faux beams. All that’s required is some Cardboard, a box cutter, and a saw of choice.
1.Cut a piece of cardboard to about 1 foot long and as high as your beam.
2. Hold the cardboard piece to the ceiling.
3. Fold cardboard back to get the desired angle that you want the beam to be. Make adjustments as needed.
4. Cut off folded section of the cardboard
5. Hold the cardboard up to the ceiling again to confirm the appropriate cut was made. Make any slight adjustments, if necessary.
6. Place cardboard template near the end of the beam and trace down the angle of the cardboard.
7. Cut along the line marked by the pencil, removing this side of the beam.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the opposite side of the beam.
9. After both sides of the beam have beam cut, place it on the wall and make any adjustments as needed. You can also caulk or place straps on the end of the beam as desired.
There is a ton of information and knowledge out there on how to retrofit a house properly to minimize damage caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, especially in those areas right in the heart of the action like Southern California.
One consideration is a home’s ceiling beams. A real wooden beam that can weigh up to hundreds of pounds can be a somewhat ominous thing to have hanging over your head during an earthquake. Homeowners or builders may want to take their safety precautions a step further by choosing polyurethane wood for their ceiling beams rather than traditional wood. A typical faux wood beam weighs an average of 20 lbs, so if in the event of an earthquake or heavy winds strong enough to cause a beam to fall, the lightweight faux version would cause a lot less damage or chance of injury.
Tammy from Southern California sent in the photo of her beautifully finished kitchen and living rooms area with Timber faux wood beams and wrote, “The faux wood beams were the way to go for me. The first reason I looked into them was I live in So. Cal and I wasn’t sold on having a heavy wood beam on the ceiling and the chance of it not holding up in an earthquake…When the project was complete everyone complimented on how beautiful it was and no one even knew it was faux!”
When you butt one beam into the side of another one, you want the joint to be so tight that it’s invisible.
With smooth beams, you can just cut the butting beam square, and it should fit against the main beam without a problem. It’s a different story with rough, distressed beams.
Sure, you can cut the beam square, butt it to the main beam, and fill the gap with caulk. But you’re likely to have a lot of gap to fill, and the result can look messy and unprofessional.
To do it right, you should scribe the end of the butting beam to match the contours of the main beam. All you need is a simple circle-drawing compass and a jigsaw or coping saw.
1. Lay the beams together as shown in the photo, at the exact position where they’ll meet.
2. Spread the compass an inch or so. Hold it flat and slide it up along the beams as shown, so the point follows the surface of the main beam while the pencil draws a line on the butting beam. Do this all the way around the top and the other side.
3. Tilt the jigsaw shoe to an angle of 10-15 degrees, so that you’ll cut away more material toward the center of the beam and make a sharper outer edge. Carefully cut along the scribed line on all three sides of the beam. You can also use a coping saw.
4. Test fit the beam, and remove any high spots with a coarse file until you have a perfect fit.
5. Stain the cut end of the beam to prevent any possibility of raw polyurethane showing through a crack in the joint.
Now you’re ready to install the beams and have the satisfaction of seeing a perfectly invisible joint.
Corbels are beautiful architectural features that add class, flair and realism to your project. A corbel visually anchors the end of a beam so it looks solid and well supported.
But how do you know what size corbel to use? The answer depends on the kind of beam you’re using.
Suppose your beams have well-defined edges that are square and straight or just slightly rounded. These include our Raised Grain, Woodland and Sandblasted beams. In this case, choose corbels that are the same width as the beams or just slightly narrower.
The first photo shows a corbel slightly narrower than the beam it supports. An equal-width corbel would also look great with this beam.
On the other hand, suppose your beams have irregular edges that are distressed and significantly rounded. Our Timber beams are like this. In this case, choose corbels that are at least a couple of inches narrower than the beams. This lets the corbel rest against the flat part of the beam and avoid overlapping the rounded edges.
The second photo shows corbelsnarrow enough to rest against only the flat part of a heavily distresssed and rounded beam.
To wrap up our series of tips on coffered ceilings (see part 1 and part 2), let’s consider the elegant look of smooth-surface beams such as the ones in our Regal and Regal 2 lines. When you use these pre-primed beams for a coffered ceiling, you’re looking for flawless joints that don’t show under the final coat of paint.
Here’s how you do it.
1. Follow the steps in part 1 for installing the beams using double-mitered joints. As you do — no matter how careful you are — you’ll find that not all your joints are perfect. Some joints will have small cracks. Some will be uneven, with one beam a little lower or higher than the others. These imperfections don’t show with rough, distressed beams, but they do with smooth beams.
2. Fill those inevitable cracks and irregularities with auto body filler. Apply it with a flexible putty knife, making each joint as smooth as you can. Then carefully sand the filler so each joint is silky smooth. Be careful not to sand down the surfaces of the beams themselves.
3. Prime the filled areas with the primer recommended by the manufacturer of your finish paint.
