Smoothing Very Irregular Ceiling Beams Kitchens, doors, rails, stud, tables, chairs, stair cases, garden furniture etc... Find answers and ask questions here!

[egeria87]

Good evening,

So I was wondering what suggestions or precautions we might receive in regards to some DIY work we’re doing.

We’ve moved into a house which has very irregular solid wood ceiling beams. They are not structural but they are set into the brick work either side. We originally planned to replace them with more squared off beams, such as glulam or oak, but the cost of doing so throughout the house became very expensive.

Our new more cost effective plan is to basically plane the beams in situ with a power planer. The beams are stained a very dark colour and luckily the wood underneath comes through beautifully when sanded even lightly so it encouraged us to keep going.

In theory we’d like to be able to keep planing the beams until most of the irregularities are evened out. We understand we’ll never be able to completely smooth them out but at this stage that’s fine, we just want to take most of the lumps and bumps out.

Question is, is this realistic? And what would be the best method in your collective experience?

Would try and attach photos but the files are too large to upload from my phone.

Thanks

[slo101]

Without seeing the level of unevenness and knowing the expectation you have for the finish it is hard to answer this accurately, but as a carpenter, this sounds like quite an undertaking!

My advice would be to choose a room or beam that looks like it will take the least amount of work to finish and have a go. This will give you an idea of how much work the whole house will be.

I'd be interested to see how you get on.