Options for veneer or a simple wrap to put over these beams?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Hello! We have white rift oak accents (shelves and a few cabinets) in our kitchen. Originally, we planned to sand the beams in our great room and stain them to match the light oak in the kitchen.

However, once we started sanding, we realized the beams are made of knotty alder, which doesn’t match the rest of the house. To complicate things further, the top beam is a different type of wood altogether. We thought about staining them dark and srak stained beams in the kitchen with our walnut wood but I get cold feet thinking that would look funny. I don't want to spend all this money and have everything not flow or feel like it looks "off".

Now, we're faced with a few options: we could paint the beams white (which I’d prefer to avoid unless it's a last resort), stain them back to their original dark color (which doesn’t fit with our current remodel design), or remove them and install oak beams that we can stain to match the white rift oak (which has a similar(ish) grain pattern and stains nicely). While I'm okay with the beams not having the exact same grain as the oak since they're up high, I do want them to look cohesive with the rest of the home.

However, after seeing the cost of solid wood, I started considering other options.

Since these beams are purely decorative, do we really need them to be solid wood like our floors or some of our cabinets? Are there options for veneer or a simple wrap that could give us the look we want without the high price tag or the need to remove the beams completely?

I'm not interested in faux painting, as that costs about the same as real wood. I thought I’d ask here since many of you might have experience with this.

Featured Answer

PRO

BeverlyFLADeziner

2 years ago

Every wood doesn't have to match in a home.

Light-finished beams are not something you often see in an interior unless you're going for a total whitewashed appearance. The ridge beam is usually a glulam beam and is frequently oak or Douglas fir for strength.

This project below had painted beams that were soda blasted and left natural and unfinished.

Here are painted beams

Here is an interior with two finishes for the beams

Wood finishes can mix and match.

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Comments (9)

PRO
HALLETT & Co.
2 years ago
Pay someone to faux grain them to match the floors. Much less money than other options. If you are in coastal ga/ sc I can hook you up.
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klem1
2 years ago
Did you specify specs for beams in the construction contract? If you did it's the builder's responsibility (expense) to make it right. If you didn't choose beams nasty on you and a lesson learned. A skilled cabinet maker or woodworker can wrap those to look any way you want. Make sure everyone is on the same page before proceeding this time around. As in maybe seeing a sample.
HU-402831377
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I like the beams. This place makes a rift white oak.

Volterra Architectural Products - Quality Faux Wood Beams (volterraproducts.com)

The website says you can put it over existing beams. I don't know how the price works out.
abrahamhawkins
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
It wont be a cheap exercise, but go to your local lumber yard. You'll struggle to get riftsawn pieces much wider than 5-6 inches which wont work for your beams, but theyll let you sort through plain sawn to find pieces that arent too knotty. Ask them to resaw the boards to 5/16 or 1/4". Probably 25-50 cents/bf for resaw service. any finish carpenter should be able to run them rough the planer to 3/16" and miter fold aroud the existing beams. I did a similar exercise to clad exposed pine framing trusses.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
So thse beams are an addon not actual structure at all is that right ?? If so I guess it is on you to not have had the coverstaion about the type of wood to use . Please correct me if I am wrong but now you either cover them or stain them dark to work with the walnut and next time make sure to get a signed contract you agree with.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
2 years ago
You may not like the price of faux, but the maximum of length of veneer is 17' with most between 8' and 12'. Those seams aren't going to look good. They won't exist with faux and faux will be less expensive.
klem1
2 years ago
Once again first and last time poster presents their 100 pound problem expecting a selection of 5 pound solutions then hop-scotches off into the wild blue yonder in pursuit of ever elusive silver bullets.
kathleen MK
2 years ago
Unless those beams are touching the wood cabinetry I wouldn't do anything more to them than staining them in a similar shade as the cabinets and only if the difference is really daylight and dark. Most people will not notice. With wood knots it will take a lot of sealer and priming to paint them white like ceiling. otherwise the the knot will start showing through the paint weeks later. I learn this the hard way on some painting unfinished furniture.