Treating Old Wood Beams

Most of the beams in our house are probably around 180 years old.

Treating old wood beams.

I ve also made friends with a local shop that specializes in tearing down barns and selling the wood. Wood is an extraordinary building material that can last hundreds of years especially old growth wood when given a little care. New wood beams used in a restoration project stripping wood beams. To restore the rustic authentic look it is always advised to strip back and remove paint and other old finishes from wood beams where possible.

Just like any material when exposed to the elements it can slowly degrade. Craigslist is a great place to look for reclaimed material. If you smell the odor of animals or other offensive scents use the wood for outside projects only. Before using reclaimed wood for your next project there are steps that you should take to ensure the wood you are using has been completely rid of bugs.

Place a few pieces of the salvaged wood in a plastic bag for 48 hours. I can find old barn wood wood from urban demolitions like gym flooring and even the scraps from local shops. Old barn wood can retain the smell of a farm for decades. It s also gives this old growth wood new life rather than just bulldozing these old structures and burning the wood.

Open the bag and smell the wood. It s only been in the last month that we ve noticed signs of woodworm appearing around some of the beams so we ve had to starting treating beams for woodworm. We started with a spray pump product called woodworm destroyer.