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I am finishing off my 1300 s/f hardie planked mountain cabin in Alpine, AZ. I have an exposed glu-lam beam that runs the length of the cabin. Its a chalet style cabin with a great room that has vaulted ceilings. I am trying to figure out the best way to finish off the glu-lam beam. The rest of the interior is drywall, so the beam is somewhat of a focal point. What do you guys use to finish these things off? The ones that I have seen in my area are all finished off with a few coats of polyurathane. The beam is 17 feet off the floor, so I am gonna have to rent scaffoling or a 16 foot step ladder to do it. I am leaning towards going with an oil finished product such as tried and true WATCO danish oil – natural. I am not sure what the glu-lam is made of, prob doug fir? I am thinking that a poly finish would require 2 – 3 coats to look good, whereas WATCO would be somewhat easier to apply. Has anyone used WATCO for this purpose? Thanks (BTW, you can click on my name and view a home page picture of the cabin).
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Adam,
If it were mine......I would buy a roll of oak veneer and laminate the veneer onto the laminated beam sides and bottom. Then I would stain it to bring out the grain.
If I were doing this project, the last thing that I would consider using would be a 16 ft stepladder.
Get the scaffolding my friend and you won't be checking out the local emergency rooms. Makes for better quality work when you are on a stable platform as you work.
Gabe
*Adam, I have used the oil approach and urethane with no problems. The glu-lam may be fir or pine depending on it's manufacture, but the glue has minimal exposure, limited to the fine joint lines. I usually sand and oil as any other wood. One point to consider is weather it is construction grade or architectural grade. The difference is that the arch... lam is designred to be exposed finish. You may find you need to fill some blow-outs in the construction grade. Though not as attractive as a natural wood beam, glu-lams are wood and develope the same patina as wood does over time. Walk good david
*Cheaper than Watco and better: linseed oil mixed about 3:1 with any cheap varnish. It goes on with the rag, but stays on the surface better; Watco doesn't build nearly as fast. Use the "boiled" linseed oil, because it will dry before you're an old man, unlike the "raw." The quotations refer to the fact that most linseed oil, unless you pay for edible stuff made from flax seed only, has been changed to dry faster with the addition of chemical driers. So don't pour what's left over on the romaine.And i'd definitly go with stilts.
*half linseed oil, half turp. or better - half tung oil, half turp. wipe on, then wipe off. don't let it dry. sand it first.juan
*Good one, but that turp smell!--hope he's not moving in right away...
*RE: 16 foot ladder vs. scaffolingOK, I was all set on renting a 16 foot fiberglass step ladder to do this (COST: About $20/day or $90/week) The bottom of the glu-lam is about 17 feet off the floor. The length of the glu-lam is about 20 - 21 feet. Now you guys are making me thinking twice about the step ladder. About 14 - 16 years ago when I was a bag boy at the local grocery store, I used to use a large stepladder (must have been at least 12 - 14 feet) to change the flourescent bulbs in the store. I had no problem with that then. So I am thinking that a 16 footer will do the job by allowing me to have one hand on the random orbital sander and one hand holding the ladder. Of course since the 16 foot step ladder is only 1 foot away from the bottom of the glu-lam the majority of my body will be able to lean against the ladder for balance. Thoughts?
*Gravity is a cruel mistress.
*Adam,Can you do it from the ladder? Sure, but...You're going to be up and down that ladder a lot! And you will have the constant temptation to reach just a little too far. I think the ladder increases the risk of dropping tools. And finally, the ladder forces you to do smaller sections at a time, which isn't always conducive to a good finish.At the very least you should price what the scaffold rental would be, keeping in mind that you will certainly get the job done quicker working off the scaffold.Finally, you will be so much more comfortable on scaffolding than you would be on a ladder.Rich Beckman
*Adam,I don't think renting scaffolding will cost much more than the ladder. Check it out.Jerry
*One look that I like on laminated beams is wrapping them with 1/4" hardwood veneer (probably to match other wood in house) maple, cherry, oak, whatever. Prefinish the 4'x8' sheets, miter the edges exposed to view, and scribe to fit as necessary.Gabe's idea works too, and with that you don't have to deal with miters, but the thinner veneers may look wobbly as they vary with surface irregularities like nails, lamination joints, glue, etc. But at 17 feet up, they probably won't show much. Glulams are not as big a problem for this as LVL's.You could spray texture the beam for an interesting paint-grade look but it wouldn't stick out as much as if it had a wood tone. If you have a contemporary or industrial look (which I doubt, using hardieplank) you could wrap it in sheet metal or coil stock--would be a cool look.Lots of possibilities. Forget the ladder, set up something that allows you to access most if not all of the span at one time.MD
*Good points MD, but the only reason I lean towards rolls of veneer is the lack of joints. You can buy veneer in rolls of 36 ft. I agree that the prep work to ensure a smooth surface can keep you busy for a while depending on the condition of the glue lam.After reading the posters comments on trying to decide between a ladder and scaffolding makes me wonder as to the posters ability to do a veneer application.....Gabe
*Gabe's point of the lack of joints is a good one, I didn't see how large a span the beam is, but over 8' obviously using sheet goods will produce them, and if that is a problem, then this doesn't work.Hard to picture laminating from a ladder!
*It's a 1300' mountain cabin, but while we're throwing long, why not go for something in the bubinga-rosewood line, say a nice carved detail every few feet to camouflage the seams. A little gesso, some gold leaf...
*Grooper, go back to your hobbies, you're out of your league here..Gabe
*Top o' the morning, Gabe! I see you work weekends, too! Grooper? Splinterpiranha!chomp, chomp..ass-widening in progress...
*Take it to the tavern,I don't think you can afford another ass widening, you have to fly cargo as it is.Gabe
*.i love the smell. reminds me of when i used to have the time to paint.
*you may be too. all that about pros etc. every contractor thinks he's a designer. wrapped veneer. yuk. use of material. truth of materials. you gave me help w/ a question re building. think a design thread needs to run - w/ open minds. if we put as much into that as into flaming diy'ers etc. we might be able to make things a little more uplifting in our parts of the world. i sure like to read you guys re building techniques. wish you could open up to a little discusison re design.
*John,Got a little dizzy reading your post. Never said to wrap the beam but to cover the beam with veneer. That would require 3 separate stripes of veneer and only 3 seams to close. Not a new thing, but an old one.Gabe
*hey gabeyeh, i did too when i reread it. tried to pack a little to much in all at once. bad tendency of mine. still would like to see a design, architecture, builder thread someday tho. thanks for your response. john