Faux Wood Workshop

1. They’re affordable: Real timber beams, especially aged or distressed ones, can be monumentally expensive. Fake wood ceiling beams give you the same look at a fraction of the price.


Faux Wood Beams Can Transform a Room

2. They’re stylish: From ceiling logs to aged Yosemite timber, there are fake wood beams to suit any style of construction project. One of the best features of our polyurethane wood beams is that you can buy them unfinished, and stain or paint them all to match perfectly – which can be tricky when using real wooden beams.
   

   Molded from Real Timber

3. They’re authentic: Our fake wood beams are molded from real timber, complete with real tooling marks, which means they look absolutely authentic. Once installed and stained (if you didn’t buy the pre-finished) most customers agree that the only way to know they’re not the ‘real’ thing is to reach up and touch them.
4. They’re easy-to-install: A solid timber beam needs bracing to install safely. Our fake ceiling beams, or reclaimed wood beams, can generally be installed with just construction glue and screws.
5. They’re lightweight: A solid timber beam can weigh hundreds of pounds, and requires a number of people and some specialist equipment to install safely. In contrast, faux wood beams are light enough that two people can safely install them.
6. They’re versatile: Creating a cathedral roof? Trying to get the look of exposed wooden beams where none exist? Creating an arbor? Adding a mantel? Faux wood beams are only really limited by your imagination. Check out our photo gallery and testimonials to see some of the amazing design projects people have completed using faux wood beams.
7. They’re weatherproof: Our fake wood beams are 100% polyurethane, which means they’re waterproof and can resist the elements in a way real timber just can’t. If you’re installing our beams, or accessories like corbels or planks, on the exterior of your home, an application of high quality clear coat exterior polyurethane with a UV inhibitor will keep the color from fading for years to come.
   

   Hollow, Lightweight, Versatile

8. They’re insect-proof: Just ask anybody who works with real timber beams and you’ll hear horror stories about termites, woodworm or hornet’s nests buried in wooden beams. By contrast, our fake beams are made from tough polyurethane and the hollow design protects against insect infestation.
9. They’re hollow: You can do things with fake wood beams that would be impossible with solid wooden beams – like use them to run hidden ducting or electrical wires, or for installing recessed lighting.
10. They’re ‘green’: If you care about the environment, our faux wood beams are a perfect alternative to cutting down trees. We also make our faux wood beams from polyurethane, not Styrofoam, so our manufacturing process is a lot better for the environment. We don’t use CFCs or formaldehyde during production, and all our stains and finishes are 100% water-based.

Have you ever noticed that those great home makeovers you see on TV never seem quite so simple to do yourself? It doesn’t matter how many walls you paint, sofas you reupholster or cushions you throw about – your efforts never quite live up to what you see on screen.

That’s because those top TV interior designers keep a few tricks up their sleeves to work their onscreen magic – and here’s one of the best: Look up.

Look up, because your ceiling holds the key to one of their most effective design secrets. In fact, just a few changes to that commonly overlooked (or is that under looked) part of your room have the power to transform your living space.

The irony is that most people’s ceilings never get much more than a fresh coat of paint during a home remodel – and by ignoring their roof, most homeowners ignore the opportunity to transform their room.

Ceiling Beam Choices: Real, Reclaimed or Simulated Wood?

One great way to add a new dimension to your room is with the use of exposed ceiling beams. A classic architectural feature, wooden beams give your room a lofty, rustic feel and can make your room feel longer and broader.

For those living in older homes, exposing existing wooden beams is a fairly simple affair. You’ll need to pull down the plasterboard or beams covering them up and invest in new plasterboard.

And even those living in more modern homes can benefit from the design details wooden beams bring. Obviously, you won’t be able to expose existing architectural beams if your ceiling doesn’t have them – but you can always add your own.

Depending on the style and décor of your house, adding wooden beams to your ceiling could be nothing short of an interior design inspiration. Give your design plan some serious thought before hand; and if you think they make a match, you have two options:

The first are real wooden beams: For the purist, adding real wooden beams to your ceiling might seem like the way to go. The benefit, of course, is that authentic exposed beam look. The downsides, however, include not just the cost, but also the problems of installing beams safely in your ceiling. Full wood beams are very heavy, and will need to be anchored safely. This is the sort of thing most people should leave to a professional carpenter.

Your second, more practical option could be the use of simulated wooden beams. These are hollow wooden beams created specifically for mimicking the look of exposed beams, without the installation headaches.

There are many options to plump for when it comes to simulated wooden beams. For lightness and cost, you could choose polyurethane molds of real exposed timbers, which perfectly match the look of authentic wooden beams. Alternatively, go one step further with hollow beams made from actual reclaimed wood – which takes the exposed beam aesthetic one step further.

Simulated Wood Advantages

There are more advantages – not just regarding cost. The use of simulated wood beams also offers you a much broader choice of color and style and the ability to match many beams perfectly – which isn’t such an easy task when using full size, timber beams. These advantages mean you can cost-effectively match all your beams to the style and décor of your redesigned room.

Of course, simulated wooden beams aren’t for every home. They work best in larger rooms with higher ceilings – offering a new visual dimension that makes your living space look larger and broader. For smaller rooms, they can often make things cozier and more closed in (although, design gurus, perhaps that’s the look you’re going for?)

Regardless, if you’re considering using simulated wooden beams in your latest design project, check out our photo gallery, which features many styles of their simulated wood beams being used in kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms and even further afield. They’re a great source of inspiration – and even better, the pictures are accompanied by design tips and tricks you won’t find on those home improvement shows.

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.

 

Getting a Knotty Pine look on Faux Wood Beams

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. Click to enlarge

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.

4. Apply the finish paint to all the beams.

5. Admire.

6. (Optional) Show off.

Last week’s tip was about coffered ceilings with four-way mitered joints. But mitering isn’t the only approach, and sometimes it won’t work. You just can’t form a nice, neat mitered joint between beams that are irregular, rounded and heavily distressed.

 

To make a coffered ceiling with irregular beams such as our Timber or Rustic styles, use the butt-joint method shown in the photos.

1. Choose the beam style you like, and order it in two different sizes. Order the larger beams to run along the entire length of the room, and the smaller beams to bridge the short spaces between the larger beams.

2. Install the large, long beams in the usual way, following the standard installation instructions . Be sure to use adhesive along the top edges.

3. Let the adhesive set for a day, so the large beams are fully stable before you start squeezing the smaller beam pieces between them.

4. Cut pieces of the smaller beams slightly oversize, to fit snugly between the larger beams, and install them following these tips:

• Usually you can install a single support block at the midpoint of each piece. Use more supports if the piece is longer than 5 feet or the ceiling isn’t quite flat.

• Do use adhesive along the top edges of each beam piece.

• Don’t apply adhesive to the ends of the small beam piece, because it will smear all over the large beam when you squeeze the small piece into place. The snug fit will keep the joint tight.

5. If needed, fill any gaps with matching caulk or filler.

Next week we’ll have one more look at coffered ceilings, with tips for using smooth, elegant, painted beams.

No one can claim that making a coffered ceiling is quick and easy. Faux beams make the job a lot easier, but there’s an art to making each joint look good and stay tight. Here’s the best way to create perfect four-way mitered joints.

1. Carefully plan, measure and lay out the grid pattern of the coffers. Snap a chalk line on the ceiling along the center line of each beam to make a checkerboard with perfect right angles.

 

 

2. For each intersection on the checkerboard, make a crossed mounting block from two pieces of 2-by lumber. Rip each piece to the exact width of the inside of the beam, and make its length about three times its width. Screw and glue the two pieces together at right angles. Then anchor each crossed block to the ceiling aligned with the chalk marks.

 

3. Take time and care cutting and dry-fitting each beam. At each four-way intersection, miter each beam in a V using a precision miter saw.

4. Stain the mitered edges to match the finished beam. This helps hide any imperfections in the joinery.

5. Mount the beams to the blocks. To lock everything together as a single unit, use adhesive on every mating surface: the mitered edges, the inside of the beam where it slips over the mounting block, and the edges of the beam that touch the ceiling. Apply a light bead, slightly back from exposed edges to avoid squeeze-out. Screw through the sides of each beam into the mounting blocks as usual.

 

6. Carefully wipe away any excess adhesive that squeezes out.

 

7. Step back and admire the perfect joints that will stay that way for a long, long time.