We are restoring a 500 year old farm house in Tuscany. It has lots of
lovely rough hewn wooden beams, many with worm holes. Some of the beams

are very dark-which I do not like as it is quite dark already in parts
of the house and one room will have fairly low ceilings. Some beams
seem to have been re-adzed...letting the nice honey coloured wood show.

Our carpenter says that the wood is a local cypress. Some people say do

not sand blast as it makes the wood have a horrible patina, some say
just scrub the wooden, the rough hewn wooden ceiling and beams in
another room...some say use acid to make the wood lighter....my
question is what is the easiest and cheapest way to bring the wood back

to its natural lighter colour and what is the best way to treat worms,
is there a natural alternative also?What finishes and treatments are
best? Some also say that cypress beams have a wonderful smell for
years, if we re-adze which will be very difficult without taking the
beams down, how can we release this smell again? Is there a product we
can use to scrub the wood and bring it back to the lighter colour?There

also are 'çotto' tiles used in the ceiling, which are terracotta tiles

used between the strips of wood in Tuscan celings, some of these are
whitewashed and will need to be sand blasted.

I guess you have never seen how sandblasting affects wood and tile, it
will ruin it. just a hint, antiques are often ruined by poor
restorations, get an restoration pro out.

Try rec.woodworking, someone there may have ideas.

On Mon, 1 May 2006 06:54:46 -0500, (m Ransley)
wrote:

I guess you have never seen how sandblasting affects wood

I've made that mistake *once*... The grains in the wood are a higher
density than the area between the grain and sandblasting results in
the lower density area being recessed from the higher density
grains... Kind of similar to pressure washing, I guess...

On 1 May 2006 04:06:40 -0700, "Rose" wrote:

We are restoring a 500 year old farm house in Tuscany. It has lots of
lovely rough hewn wooden beams, many with worm holes. Some of the beams

are very dark-which I do not like as it is quite dark already in parts
of the house and one room will have fairly low ceilings. Some beams
seem to have been re-adzed...letting the nice honey coloured wood show.

The dark color *IS* the natural color of 500 year old wood.
If the only reason you don't like the color is brightness,
try concentrating on whatever is between the beams,
Acid washing might lighten the color, but you'll probably
end up with grey. Are you sure that the holes are
worm-holes and not borer-beetles of some sort? Usually,
people use any of a number of boric-acid derived insecticides
for that.


also are 'çotto' tiles used in the ceiling, which are terracotta tiles

used between the strips of wood in Tuscan celings, some of these are
whitewashed and will need to be sand blasted.

Or you could re-whitewash them, which will lighten up the ceiling
considerably.

If, as seems likely, you're going to persist in the idiocy of
trying to make the structure of a 500 year old house look "new",
then I'd say treat the beams with insecticide first.
(Timbor or bora-care is what I'd use in the states), then, after
the bug-breeding season, have someone adze the exposed surfaces,
and then, to keep them from darkening again,
poly-urethane the crap out of them. 'Cause there's
nothing that will preserve the natural forest goodness of real
wood beams like a good coat of plastic.

Other options include sanding or planing the beams,
both of which will expose a newer wood-surface, while
taking less wood off the beams, but either of those
processed is going to soften or remove the tooling
marks. (assuming you care about that)

Rose wrote:
We are restoring a 500 year old farm house in Tuscany. It has lots of
lovely rough hewn wooden beams, many with worm holes. Some of the beams

are very dark-which I do not like as it is quite dark already in parts
of the house and one room will have fairly low ceilings. Some beams
seem to have been re-adzed...letting the nice honey coloured wood show.

Our carpenter says that the wood is a local cypress. Some people say do

not sand blast as it makes the wood have a horrible patina, some say
just scrub the wooden, the rough hewn wooden ceiling and beams in
another room...some say use acid to make the wood lighter....my
question is what is the easiest and cheapest way to bring the wood back

to its natural lighter colour and what is the best way to treat worms,
is there a natural alternative also?What finishes and treatments are
best? Some also say that cypress beams have a wonderful smell for
years, if we re-adze which will be very difficult without taking the
beams down, how can we release this smell again? Is there a product we
can use to scrub the wood and bring it back to the lighter colour?There

also are 'çotto' tiles used in the ceiling, which are terracotta tiles

used between the strips of wood in Tuscan celings, some of these are
whitewashed and will need to be sand blasted.

What's with sandblasting everything? Didn't anyone tell you it is just
about the _most_ destructive way to refinish anything? Sheesh.

What you are contemplating doing to a five century old building is
revolting. Hey, how about this - why not cover those nasty old dark
beams with some nice shiny plastic laminate?

I would really appreciate it if you'd spare us the blow by blow as you
proceed with the desecration, errr, remodeling. Thanks.

R

"Grumman-581" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 1 May 2006 06:54:46 -0500, (m Ransley)
wrote:

I guess you have never seen how sandblasting affects wood

I've made that mistake *once*... The grains in the wood are a higher
density than the area between the grain and sandblasting results in
the lower density area being recessed from the higher density
grains... Kind of similar to pressure washing, I guess...
I've had good luck with a scotchbrite pad. Don't use steel wool- any
moisture and it will stain. A rubber block and hand sanding will work, but
be major labor.

aem sends...

"Rose" wrote in message
oups.com...
We are restoring a 500 year old farm house in Tuscany.
Some people say do
not sand blast as it makes the wood have a horrible patina, some say
just scrub the wooden, the rough hewn wooden ceiling and beams in
another room...some say use acid to make the wood lighter....my
question is what is the easiest and cheapest way to bring the wood back

Where in Tuscany? I just spent a few days in the region and hope to go back
again next year.

There are bleaches that may work. Check out these site for information
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles...ood_bleach.htm
http://www.woodzone.com/articles/wood_bleach.htm

Do NOT sand blast or you will have a mess and the beams will look horrid.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Probably just a good cleaning to remove dirt and oils that have helped
darken it will make a difference, Im sure there are professional locals
that know how to clean it and not ruin the wood. Sanding once started
must be complete and uniform, with the woods age you have no idea how
deep oxidation goes, but it is probably oxidised throughout so real
lightening might be impossible. You need pro local advise, consider
lighting and a good decorator to get the most out of what you have. And
forget the sandblast idea.