protecting a 300 year old oak-wooden ceiling
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24 July 2017 at 1:30 pm #313980
Hi,
I am currently restoring an old 17th century cottage. Under many layers of plaster, newspapers and paints in different colours (on the side forming the ceiling of the ground floor) and layers of cardboard and compressed straw (on the floor side) a beautiful wooden ceiling showed up. I actually sanded (literally using a rough patch of leather and sand from the bottom of the nearby river as the people in the village have been doing for ages) the stretchers and the boards and natural colour of the old oak is just stunning. We would like to keep the colour but protect the wood without adding any shine or colour change. Moreover we are trying to use period techniques and materials wherever we can in the restoring process. Does anyone have suggestions on how to protect the wood ? I actually didn’t get any further than the obvious bees wax. But is that sufficient and how to avoid a colour change ?
Many thanks in advance
MichaelWhy not contact a historical society and ask for references to experts on this topic? Anything else will be guesswork. I would ask whether any material can protect the wood without inducing a color or sheen change and would ask about fire safety and toxicity of 17th century methods. Make sure to describe whatever you’ve done so far, especially the river sand.
24 July 2017 at 2:32 pm #313983Thanks for the reply Ed. I have been in touch with a series of specialists from the cultural heritage protection service and they gave me loads of information about the typical joinery, processes and tools used, in the region (cf. the sand) etc. They were helpful in giving me an overview of the paints and colours used. The problem however is that according to the information I got so far wood was painted in colour, covered or just left blank. They told me that to be historically correct (if I wanted to recreate the 17th century situation, because as of the 19th century I would have to apply a clay and chalk plaster) I would have to cover or paint but the wood is too attractive.
It sounds like “just leave blank” is the choice, then, if you want to stay with historical methods. If I understand correctly, there are two separate considerations, namely the upper surface of the wood, which serves as a floor upstairs, and the lower surface, which serves as the ceiling downstairs. Is that correct? If so, one way to think about this is that the ceiling will receive zero wear and essentially zero contact except maybe dusting. Perhaps it does not need any treatment at all? It will be exposed to light now, but would there be any historical treatment that would provide light protection? For the upper surface, there will be foot traffic. Would a wax or oil (my uneducated guess about the options back then) last longer than a few weeks under foot traffic? Could it be applied without running through cracks between the boards and making a mess of the ceiling? Maybe there are good reasons to leave it untreated?
Please let us know what you find. It’s quite interesting!
17 November 2017 at 1:10 pm #370297Hi Michael, nice project, and somewhat similar to mine other than that my oak ceiling beams are new in an old farmhouse (1900). I also want to clean the wood and give it a finish that causes a minimal colour change and leaves it mat (no gloss). What was the solution to ended up with? Pictures would be nice. Thanx.
17 November 2017 at 5:38 pm #371341I’m also interested in this subject.
I have what I think are walnut beams in my kitchen. I’d like to spruce them up a little and plaster between them. I actually want to darken them slightly and I don’t mind a satin sheen if that happens by accident.
Steve
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