Choice of wood for decorative beam ?

[banjerbill]

You clearly had decided on what you were doing before you asked us, so I'm not absolutely sure why you started the thread.

Another poster who doesn't want constructive advice. Just confirmation of his own (ill advised) views.

 

[MikeG.]

Well perhaps not, but you should re-read my posts, and instead of criticizing, be more helpful, as an architect Iam sure you have a vast amount of knowledge and expertise for all us mere mortals to learn from, its a pity you didn't go to teacher training collage, your posts may have come over more user friendly, IMHO. Ff

I was helpful, and gave you my reasoned advice, but you still ploughed on with the walnut/ London plane/ cherry thing after dismissing that advice with some flat-out wrong reasons. But ho hum......let me give you the architectural reasoning for not doing what you are about to go and do anyway.

Two posts and a beam will read as a structural item, whatever your reason for having them. You just want to decorate an opening, but that opening will visually appear to be supported by the posts and beam nonetheless. Therefore anything you put in that location should at least look like it is doing the job you are pretending it is doing. Walnut, to my knowledge, has never been used in 8x8 sections, and has no background as a structural timber. Same with London plane, and pine, frankly, just screams "fake" if it is used as you intend it.

You are considering this only from the viewpoint of what you think is nice wood, and not thinking at all about what a structural post and beam is expected to look like. By the same logic, you may as well make this structure out of etched glass. It's the sort of thinking which had stone cladding stuck over the outside of semis in the 1970s. There are many books on the subject of architectural honesty, and whilst it isn't as simple as "don't do fakery", it really isn't much more complicated than that. At the very least, if you do fakery you have got to do it so convincingly that no-one ever looks at it and realises they've been misled. You idea falls into the stone-cladding category, and no matter how attractive the stone, not a single person ever was fooled into thinking.........."oh look, there's half a house built out of random stone, and the other half isn't".

 

[AJB Temple]

Honestly, listen to Mike.

I have lived in six timber framed buildings, two built by me. All altered by me.

Oak looks right. It works well as green oak. Almost anything else looks like a bodge done by an amateur.

 

[F Flinstone]

Well perhaps not, but you should re-read my posts, and instead of criticizing, be more helpful, as an architect Iam sure you have a vast amount of knowledge and expertise for all us mere mortals to learn from, its a pity you didn't go to teacher training collage, your posts may have come over more user friendly, IMHO. Ff

I was helpful, and gave you my reasoned advice, but you still ploughed on with the walnut/ London plane/ cherry thing after dismissing that advice with some flat-out wrong reasons. But ho hum......let me give you the architectural reasoning for not doing what you are about to go and do anyway.

Two posts and a beam will read as a structural item, whatever your reason for having them. You just want to decorate an opening, but that opening will visually appear to be supported by the posts and beam nonetheless. Therefore anything you put in that location should at least look like it is doing the job you are pretending it is doing. Walnut, to my knowledge, has never been used in 8x8 sections, and has no background as a structural timber. Same with London plane, and pine, frankly, just screams "fake" if it is used as you intend it.

You are considering this only from the viewpoint of what you think is nice wood, and not thinking at all about what a structural post and beam is expected to look like. By the same logic, you may as well make this structure out of etched glass. It's the sort of thinking which had stone cladding stuck over the outside of semis in the 1970s. There are many books on the subject of architectural honesty, and whilst it isn't as simple as "don't do fakery", it really isn't much more complicated than that. At the very least, if you do fakery you have got to do it so convincingly that no-one ever looks at it and realises they've been misled. You idea falls into the stone-cladding category, and no matter how attractive the stone, not a single person ever was fooled into thinking.........."oh look, there's half a house built out of random stone, and the other half isn't".

Thankyou I will do it in Oak, its a pity you didnt answer my OP with this reply to start with, it would have saved a lot of interpost exchanges. Would you enlighten me on any other work to do on the wood before they fit it?

 

[MikeG.]

Would you enlighten me on any other work to do on the wood before they fit it?

Let's see now......

Well perhaps not, but you should re-read my posts, and instead of criticizing, be more helpful, as an architect Iam sure you have a vast amount of knowledge and expertise for all us mere mortals to learn from, its a pity you didn't go to teacher training collage, your posts may have come over more user friendly, IMHO. Ff

.......If you feel that way I would be grateful if you would refrain from posting and allowing those members with a genuine interest in assisting me the opportunity to post........

....... its a pity you didnt answer my OP with this reply to start with, it would have saved a lot of interpost exchanges...

Funny old way you have of asking for help.

 

[F Flinstone]

I Give up !!

 

[AJB Temple]

You have some people here who have a lot of experience of building stuff, joinery and timber framing. Makes sense to be nice if you really want help, rather than mere affirmation of what you have already decided. Just saying.

 

[dzj]

Weight is also a factor to consider. A .20x.20x3.50m green Oak beam would be ~150 Kilos.
Manipulating such a piece inside a finished building would take some planning.

 

[AndyT]

Fred, as a comparative newbie to this forum, you may not have noticed who Mike is.
I suggest you spend a few hours reading the shed building guidance linked to in his signature and then his porch building thread green-oak-porch-t107510.html
Also have a look through some more of his many thousands of helpful posts. He may come over as a bit direct sometimes but he knows what he is talking about and has years of theoretical and practical experience, particularly in the area of building and timber framing. What's more, he's been very generous with his time and expertise on this and on other forums.