3590 ceiling beams

They don't [B]need [/B]anything doing to them, but you will probably find that using a transparent wood varnish (use one which is described as "opaco", which means matt) brings up the colour of the wood nicely, and tends to help disguise the odd bit of old whitewash which might have got left.

You should be able to buy tins of varnish in any decent paint shop, or ferramenta, though usually the matt varnish is more difficult to find than shiny. Shiny is called "lucido", eggshell finish is called "semi-opaco". You don't need anything special, tell the shop assistant it is for internal wood.

Some form of polish would do the same job of enhancing the colour of the wood, but I would think it will be much more difficult to apply. (Though it wouldn't run down the brush and onto your arm, which the varnish will certainly do!)

Some people would want to use an insect killing wood preservative on the wood, but I personally wouldn't bother. This stuff is quite difficult to find in Italy. It would be called something like an "impregnante anti-tarlo".

Our neighbours here in Le Marche have advised us not to use anti-worm treatment, but to rub oil on the wood. I'm not sure what oil to use, though.

How did you get all the paint off your beams? We were told to use a sandblaster, but that seems a very messy option.

It's worth finding a good oil to feed the wood (not to cover & seal it) & would suggest that you find one or two good words to use to talk to the local DIY store.... [b]don't[/b] cover then, feed them!

Please [i]try a bit of local[/i] & you'll love the result!

D

'Olio Cotto' (Linseed Oil) is often used as a wood treatment. It penetrates reasonably well, its cheap and easy to apply. It [i]will[/i] darken your wood somewhat though. Its easily found at any local ferramenta.

[QUOTE=English teacher]Our neighbours here in Le Marche have advised us not to use anti-worm treatment, but to rub oil on the wood. I'm not sure what oil to use, though.

How did you get all the paint off your beams? We were told to use a sandblaster, but that seems a very messy option.[/QUOTE]
any oil treatment will darken the colour. An Italian recommended that I use sunflower oil, its cheap, sorry low cost, the finish is the same as with expensive oils and if the locals use it, etc. etc.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]If your wood is not going to get wet then yes a light oil will be ok but don't use it for any surfaces that come into contact with water such as in the bathroom or kitchen.You will need TUNG oil for these surfaces applied daily for at least 1 week until you build up a waterproof layer.

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

thank you all who replied. We scraped the beams by hand with a 2" scraper (very hard, long laborious work) but that allowed us to control the dirt somewhat. The beams look somewhat dry and need nourishing and the linseed oil idea appeals to us. Good luck to anyone who is thinking of doing the same, although we only had to do 25 square metres of scraping and I would suggest professionals (or good friends) if you have a larger area.

gill

.....so it was [i]elbow grease[/i] you needed!

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Gill, were the pianelle also covered in Whitewash?Ours are and I'm having problems deciding how to get it off!Luckily its just in one room abot 25 sq meters.

I'm really hoping that I can get the builders to reuse them so the underside(unpainted) shows.

Old pianelle cost about 1.60 euros each so i may have to use these and keep the whitewashed ones to clean gradually!

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

Becky, Gill didn't have pianelle - she has boarding - so it is a whole wood ceiling (and I bet it looks good)!

Getting whitewash off pianelle is very difficult - have you considered sandblasting (which you do "in situ", after the floor or roof has been concreted, if that is what you are doing)? That gets them (and the beams) completely clean. Otherwise, get yourself some very strong rubber gloves, and some very strong acido muriatico, from the builders' merchant, do it tile by tile in the open air and watch the whitewash disappear. Don't breath while doing this....:)