Ideas on ceiling beams/rafters

[Mike K]

Looking to get advice on what to do with the exposed ceiling beams in my living room. I will be removing the wood paneling and texturing the walls here shortly and I would also like to do something with the beams. They are currently painted an ugly ass brown. I don’t know if I should paint them (a ‘better’ brown?) or if staining them is an option. Does anybody else have exposed wood beams in their living room that can suggest something that would look better what they look like right now? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Cooter]

you can paint them or veneer them and then stain that. Or just veneer them with something you like.

lots of options. Maybe it's the 70's in me, but I think exposed beams are cool

[Vertnut]

Beams are making sort of a come back, but not the roughly finished variety. As Forrest stated, you can veneer them with a stain-grade plywood or paneling (I've done them in red oak and ash). They turned out looking really rich with a darker stain and a satin lacquer clearcoat.

[Mike K]

Thanks for the stained veneer idea. I think that is the option I am going to go with, now time to find what I like.

[Mike K]

Update...

It appears that the shelf above the fireplace is the same type of wood as the ceiling beams. I had my brother take it down and sand the paint off to see what the wood looked like. After looking at some ambiguous pictures online and trying to compare them to the pictures my brother sent me, I think it is cedar. Can anybody help identify what kind of wood it is?

If so, I am thinking about sanding everything down and just staining them. What is involved with staining? Is it as simple as picking out a stain color and painting it on, or is it more complicated? What kind of prep work is needed (after sanding) and will I need to apply anything over the stain to make it last?

Thanks again for the help.


NOTE - The reddish hue in the second picture is a little misleading. The first picture more accurately shows the color of the wood. The second picture is best for showing the wood grain.

[Cooter]

sure looks like cedar

[Chas_svo]

If it was cedar, you would be able to smell it within seconds of starting to sand. Know what cedar smells like?

And yes, it looks like cedar.

[Mike K]

If it was cedar, you would be able to smell it within seconds of starting to sand. Know what cedar smells like?

And yes, it looks like cedar.

I do, not sure if my brother does. I am in Afghanistan and I am trying to get everything setup so I can redo my living room when I am home on vacation. That is why I was asking for a visual confirmation. Thanks for the help.

[Chas_svo]

Sorry, I thought you were here helping your brother. I agree with Cooter, it sure looks lik cedar.

Good luck over there, and be careful!

[forbes]

it is cedar, you can tell by the resawn cut on the edge and the wider grain. an easy fix although a little messing is to scrap all the acoustical off and sand blast the beams. then retexture or smooth wall the ceiling

[FreightTrain]

you can paint them or veneer them and then stain that. Or just veneer them with something you like.

lots of options. Maybe it's the 70's in me, but I think exposed beams are cool

Nope. Thats the white trash in you.

[KBScobravert]

That looks like a piece of shit piece of wood. Have your brother drop it off at my house and I will take it off your hands. J/K

I say, Cedar and I bet if you asked him he would tell you it smells GREAT when he is sanding it.

I would hate to put anything other than a light stain and sealer on that or the rafters. It is gonna be a bitch to get them smooth and clean but it will be worth it.

Oh, did you ever slap that random afghani for me?

[Hmbre97]

I think they would look good with a clear sealer over them but only if you get rid of the glitter popcorn ceiling and the wood paneling. With those two items, anything will still look dated.

[Mike K]

Sorry, I thought you were here helping your brother. I agree with Cooter, it sure looks lik cedar.

Good luck over there, and be careful!

Not a problem, I didn't put a lot of detail in my post.

it is cedar, you can tell by the resawn cut on the edge and the wider grain. an easy fix although a little messing is to scrap all the acoustical off and sand blast the beams. then retexture or smooth wall the ceiling

acoustical = 70's wood paneling? If so, see the end of this post for more detail.

That looks like a piece of shit piece of wood. Have your brother drop it off at my house and I will take it off your hands. J/K

I say, Cedar and I bet if you asked him he would tell you it smells GREAT when he is sanding it.

I would hate to put anything other than a light stain and sealer on that or the rafters. It is gonna be a bitch to get them smooth and clean but it will be worth it.

Oh, did you ever slap that random afghani for me?

I can't believe that somebody actually painted over the wood with an indescribably ugly brown (now very faded and looks kind of grey in the pictures). I was expecting it to be some generic wood. Now that I know what the wood looks like I can start looking at stains/dyes/sealers. I have never done anything like this before, so it is all new to me. Any product recommendations?

Yeah I slapped an Afghan for you... then he wouldn't give me my food (Yelner DFAC has locals serving food - if you happen to know where that DFAC is).

I think they would look good with a clear sealer over them but only if you get rid of the glitter popcorn ceiling and the wood paneling. With those two items, anything will still look dated.

The plan for this vacation is to have a professional remove wood paneling and mud/texture the walls. When I get home my brother and I are going to sand the wood beams in living room and seal, prime and paint the walls, and remove popcorn ceiling texture. I am also going to finally hook my 7.1 surround sound back up. I never hooked it up when I moved over from my old house in Arlington.

[Cooter]

I think they would look good with a clear sealer over them but only if you get rid of the glitter popcorn ceiling and the wood paneling. With those two items, anything will still look dated.

FWIW, I ALMOST bought a house BECAUSE it had O.G. paneling and glitter/popcorn errrrwhere.

There was some roof damage that they were going to fix, but the water stained the ceiling, and I figured nobody would be able to properly match the patina