Faux Wood Workshop

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!”

Modern homes may have the benefits of clean lines, wide open spaces and tall ceilings, yet you may yearn for a few touches of old world style – charming moldings, rough cut ceiling beams or detailed arches. 

We’ve been following the progress of Jack McLauchlan from Moses Lake Washington as he has transformed his living room with various types of faux wood products. His most recent addition was a interior stairway arch that he created using Rough Sawn corbels and a leftover piece of faux wood beam from the previous year’s project.

 

The archway looks authentic and well done, especially next to the balcony-type openings to the left. The whole effect is practically Juliet-esque.

“My living room is quite an eye opener now, a far cry from the plain 22 foot wall and white ceiling that greeted us before,” Jack explained.

 
To read about how Jack started the living room project with Timber faux wood beams click here, and scroll down about a third of the page. 

Below is one of the photos that he originally sent in. (You can see how the stairway arch looked before he added the beam and corbels).

 

We’ve heard he has plans to add a faux rock wall to the room next year, we can’t wait to see what he does next!