In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
When I cleaned up painted oak beams I bought a circular wire brush from the ferramenti(spelling?) that fitted into my small angle grinder. It cleaned off the old paint and polished up the surface of the wood.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=yorkshirelass;109049]Has anyone got an advice about how to clean up new chestnut beams. They have just been put into our property as part of the new floors and they now have cement and dirty marks all over them. If we had realised the state they would end up in we would have stained them first. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Has anyone else had the same problem and found a quicker solution than sanding them - which is taking hours![/quote]
Quickest and easiest is sandblasting however it does tend to ruin the look and can see very new in a rustic environment. Alternatively by hand with a wire brush - hard b••••• work.:yes:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Elbow grease + patience is the formula.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
An effective way of sanding them is to use an angle grinder with a sanding disc. Use 60 or 80 grit paper. You must keep the machine moving all the time and try and keep it flat on the wood. It is fast and will get the wood clean. If you have,nt got one you can buy a small grinder for 30 - 40 euros, a sanding disc for 7 and the paper discs around 50 cents each from any DIY place.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I was interested in Stella's product recommendation. We used linseed oil mixed with anti woodworm fluid and brushed it on to the beams, having used a wire brush to take off any residue cement, (there wasn't much of this).
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I have just stripped the chestnut beams in my house with a wire wheel in a drill but if you do similar make sure you use a brass wire wheel and as wide as possible as this is softer than the wood.Mine have come up very good.Cheers .Stephen Riley
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I think the approach depends on the final look you are after, in the bedrooms I have sanded smooth the beams using a belt sander / hand sanding where the beam was uneven then treating with antitalo for obvious reasons, in the main living areas I have not cleaned the beams up other than removing the various array of nails imbedded within. Difficult to keep clean but a nice firm straw brush deals with the cobwebs and the impact of the older beams is not lost.
Like you, I did my beams the hard way by sanding and would be interested to hear, for next time, whether anyone has found sandblasting to be effective and affordable.
However, I didn't regret the hard work because the beams, once thoroughly sanded and finished with a product that gives a lovely, low sheen, looked good and were very easy to keep clean. Rough finish beams are a nightmare to clean - dust and cobwebs stick tight and cleaning cloths are shredded. The product I used is available colourless or in a range of wood tones, and it's easy to apply. It can also be used outdoors - I had old timber beams above the windows and doors and they looked good and were protected from weathering once they had had two coats. The product is called tema cerata, made by Ard, details here: [url]http://www.ard-raccanello.it/3skl/vortal/ard2/immagini/tecnica_24.pdf[/url]