Arghh..paint old oak beams or not?

[Flatbread]

We have an old farmhouse with blackened oak beams in the dining room and living room. The ceilings are low and the windows small. So the rooms look dark and heavy.

We have the painter over and tested painting the kitchen beams with F&B matt All White. Looks ok, but has a very painted feel.

Don't really want to follow through in the dining room, but not sure what else we can do to lighten the room.

Any suggestions? Painter is here tomorrow as well. Maybe limewash is the solution, but how on earth do we get it in France (I heard it takes 6 months to age). Or is lime wax an alternative...?

I also have some casein distemper in Pointing from F&B, should I use that instead on the beams and ceiling?

Or just leave it alone and get used to to the heavy look?

So confused...please help!

flatbread - take a look at my pics, we had the exact same situation as you! Our beams were dark stained and looked so nasty and oppressive. I started to strip them but it was much too much hard work (!) and they were pretty shot underneath all the stain anyway.

I painted our front room beams James White (not sure what orientation our room is but they don't have the green tinge that James White can often have) and I wasn't sure whether I liked it until I'd finished the whole room and then I realised I loved it. Our dining room also has dark beams but it's a much more atmospheric room and the walls are aubergine and in that room the dark beams just looked right really. We also have lots of exposed stone in both rooms, like you, so I think your rooms would end up looking fairly similar to ours.

Kits, very similar and I can see how the lighter ceiling really lifts the room!

The plasterer/painter finished his work today and left for a new job. So it will be up to us to do over time. I suspect, like you, we will leave the dining room as is and might brighten the living room with lightly lime-washed beams.

Flatbread - what's under that orange laminate? Can you take it down - I don't think that goes with the farmhouse feel - it could be removed and the ceiling replastered and then you can look at your beams. I have ones in my living room like this - only two big ones - I went over them in diluted white F&B paint (pointing I think) - sorts of gives a limewashed effect without being a heavy painted effect. This lifted the room and prevented the beams being too heavy and oppressive. If you keep the laminate paint it white or pointing - that'll lift it immediately and then you can decide on the beams. (I live in France and have seen this sort of stuff). If you need light go for it it's your place.

Hatty, that orange stuff is actually red oak. It is the flash that makes it look orangey.

For the next few months at least, we will leave the ceiling as is. We might limewash the ones in the livingroom, though (or use F&B pointing distemper). The main entrance to the house is through the dining room, so it might be nice to leave it quite vernacular and play with the other spaces.

I agree with you regarding F&B Pointing. We are using that for most of the walls and it is a lovely colour, very soft and simple and yet really transforms the space.

Hi there, for what it's worth I'm a stylist/paint effects/crafts author of some two decades, many magazine articles, some tv work and ten books standing. Not that this means you have to like my style; but I've dealt with many rooms, many beams, and have trialled, unbiased (I freelance for mags such as Homes and Antiques, Period Living, Traditional Homes) pretty much every paint there is. I also write features on houses, and get to nose around and ask the questions one wouldn't in polite society feel able to ask. What did it cost? Do you regret it now ?! So..blackened beams huh?! If money is no object, and the beams may yield some loveliness beneath, then having them deblacked back to something fresh, 'Kevin McCloudesque Grand Designs gorgeous' might be a possibility. If not, and if I was doing this as a makeover, I'd probably wash them in a slightly diluted chalk paint and distress back by judicious sanding to reveal the depth afforded by the inky blackness. Colourwise, you need to decide if you want cool elegance or a little more warmth. I would steer away from white. A great decorating tip I learned from one home owner I featured, (actually Custodian of a National Trust property, she lived in its basement), was that 'white without light on it is grey'. I immediately went home and painted my teeny tiny cottage living room a rich warm pink with deep crimson ceiling (sounds mad, looks and feels fab) and it worked brilliantly. What fabrics and other textures, colours do you have in the room ? All the best, Deena Beverley (deenabeverleyblogspot.co.uk)

Craft/Deena, what is chalk paint? Is that the same as a F&B casein distemper? Sadly, there is no possibility of making the room elegant, but a warm feel would be great. We plan to paint the walls F&B Pointing. We haven't gotten down to it yet, as the render needs to dry a bit. What colours would you suggest for the beams and walls?

Thanks!

just found this 'dead' thread. We have endless beams soot blackened AND limewashed over last 150 years. Is there anything other than light sandblasting that will clean them??

Bryanosbon, I'm not sure, but this reminds me, I have a similar question. I have attic beams that are kind of 'damaged' - quite rotten looking, etc, but even so I'm loathe to paint them. I've put a couple of pictures of them on my profile, if anyone can help. What would I do with them if I didn't paint them?

Hope someone's around who can give us both a helping hand with our beams.....

We've black beams in the lounge of our old cottage which I hate, looks really dark and heavy. I've started stripping them by hand, its a awful job but satifying and they look amazing back to their original pale oak colour. I've used a stripper called Klingstrip that is like a paste that you spread over the beam than cover with clingfilm. You leave it about an hour then scrape the paste off and the paint comes with it, the paint kind of turns to a oily film that scrubs off. Its a horrible job that needs loads of buckets of water and towel and old clothes but I've managed 1/2 a 4 m beam an evening (about 1.5 hours work) and so almost done. When they are all finished I am planning buffing them with clear wax and re-painting the ceiling off white - should look fab

Thanks Tiger, that's really helpful. Whilst mine aren't dark and heavy, they are painted an ugly brown colour, and I think would really benefit by going back to their natural oaky colour. I'll give Klingstrip a go. Also ... this attic hadn't been used as a proper room since pre-1980 so it's quite likely I guess that the brown paint on them has lead in it. I googled Klingstrip and it seems to be safer to use on leady paint than other alternatives. Thanks again

Sorry for bringing this thread back to life but I have a question.

We have just bought a 16th century farmhouse. The sitting room is part of the original building and although the beams are a dark brown/black (not glossy) it's quite obviously that some of the beams are original and some are replacement beams.

I'm worried that if i start to bring them back to their original colour will they actually be different as the original will be oak but what wood will the replacement beams be made of?

As the colour is a darkish brown rather than glossy black would it be safer to keep this colour rather than stripping it back.

Thanks

There is nothing wrong if you want to paint an old oak beam or you can either refurnish it as possibly close to it's natural state. I think it is advisable to have a really good source of oils that can give proper treatment for it first and perhaps a top brand of wax. Also don't forget sandpaper for a clean and balanced absorption of the oil or matt varnish. However, if you still have to paint it, you can also try that too however I personally think that nothing beats a natural looking beam rather than coloured beams. Hope this helps.