How to Cut Down and Install Reclaimed Beams
Incorporating rustic wood elements into your home is one of the easiest ways to achieve cottage farmhouse style, and today I am going to share with you how to cut down and install reclaimed beams!
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As promised, I’m going to explain how to cut down and install reclaimed beams! I revealed these earlier this week in our recent kitchen refresh, and I just love how they look in that space.
My Dad was the mastermind behind this project, and if you watch the YouTube video linked above he explains the whole process for you step by step! But if you’d rather read and look at photos, I’ll break it down here for you, as well. 🙂
Where Can You Source Reclaimed Beams?
First of all, where can you source reclaimed beams? If you love cottage farmhouse style like I do, incorporating beams into your home is one of the best ways to achieve that aesthetic.
Last year we installed a reclaimed beam above our fireplace, and we’ve also installed faux beams in our kitchen and entryway.
Faux beams can be absolutely beautiful, but if you can get your hands on some authentic beams that are aged, hand hewn and imperfect – even better! The best part? You might not have to spend a ton of money sourcing them. In fact, you may even be able to score them for free!
So where can you find reclaimed beams?
The first place I would check would be Facebook Marketplace. That’s where we found our fireplace beam and it was only $60. I love the character that it adds to our living room space, and it looks so pretty against our Airstone fireplace.
Another place you can check would be local salvage yards. These companies specialize in gathering older materials like antique doors and windows, and even reclaimed beams.
Finally, check with your local Fire Department to see if they have any scheduled barn burnings. If you live in an area with older barns, many times owners will call their fire department to come monitor the burning. Both my husband and Dad are volunteer firemen, so they were able to rescue a lot of the beams from our friends’ barn before it was burned down.
How Do You Cut Down Reclaimed Beams?
I recently had a friend visit who saw the beams in my kitchen, and she said – “how did you cut them down to that size? I pass up so many awesome old beams because they are just too wide to use anywhere in my home!”
That was my problem, too! Once we had all these awesome beams, how in the world would we be able to incorporate them into our home?
Like I said earlier, my Dad is the one who researched this portion of the post. He actually found a tool that attaches to your chain saw, and allows you to cut massive beams down to the width of your liking.
It’s called a portable chainsaw mill, and my Dad ordered his through the Sportsman’s Guide magazine. I’ll link a similar one for you here if you’re interested in checking it out!
He was so kind to take the time to explain the whole process on my YouTube video, and I actually have some footage of my Dad and husband testing out the tool for the first time on the beam that we installed above our range.
I would highly recommend watching the video to hear all of my Dad’s tips for cutting down reclaimed beams with this tool. He shares some important details, like making sure you pull all of the nails out of the beam, as well as attaching a board to your beam to get the cleanest cut.
If you were hoping for more details in written form, please leave a comment below! I am such a visual learner that I thought my Dad’s video explanation would be much more valuable to you guys. 🙂
How Do You Install Reclaimed Beams?
Finally, I want to explain how to install these beautiful reclaimed beams to your ceiling. To be honest, we followed the exact same steps that I shared with you when we created our faux beams for the kitchen a few years ago.
My husband made just one modification to that tutorial, but I’ll sum up the steps for you here, as well.
After cutting the beams down to the width you like, you may want to clean your beams either by sanding them or power washing them.
Just be sure sure to start in an inconspicuous area, you don’t want to strip away the beautiful markings and patina of a reclaimed beam.
Step One – Cut Your Beams to Length
After you’ve cleaned them well, cut your beams down to the length that you need. Ours were all different lengths since our galley kitchen is wider near the dining room and narrower towards the back entry.
Once your beam is cut to the correct length, hold it up to the ceiling and drill pilot holes through the beam and into the drywall. For this step, the only modification my husband made was that he cut some 2×4’s to the correct length and used them as braces to hold up his beam while he drilled the pilot holes.
I’m not sure why we didn’t think of this before, but it helped him out SO much and it made it much less difficult to install the beams!
Step Two – Install Anchors
Now ideally it would be great if you could attach the beams to studs. But if the spacing doesn’t work out correctly, anchors are the perfect solution.
After drilling the pilot holes, my husband removed the beams and put heavy metal anchors into the holes that were on the ceiling. Refer to my faux beams post to see photos for this step!
Step Three – Attach the Beam
Once you hold your beam back up against the ceiling, the pilot holes in your beam should line up perfectly with the anchors in the ceiling above it. My husband used 4” premium screws and attached the beams, once again using the braces he had created.
If you have an older home like ours where the floors are never level, you may need to slip some books or magazines under your braces once you move from one beam to the next.
And that’s it! I hope I covered everything on how to cut down and install reclaimed beams, but again, if you have any questions please leave them in the comments below!
PIN IT FOR LATER
Thanks for the info about reclaimed beams. My friend is looking for information regarding reclaimed beams for a project. I’ll share this article about reclaimed beams with my friend.
Thank you! I hope it is helpful!
Is there a post with more information about the beam/ventless range hood? We’ve been looking to do something like this as it is gorgeous, but I am trying to see if you had more pictures for my handy husband to see and make one of our own.
Hello! Yes, I share a bit about it in this post: https://www.pineandprospecthome.com/cottage-kitchen-refresh-with-ilve-ranges/ I hope this helps!
I was hoping for more detailed photos like the underside of the range hood and how he attached it as when you watch the kitchen redo video it looks like there is very little room to attach it. I hope that makes sense – I am a total visual learner, and seeing it attached and not just the finished photos always helps.
Thanks so much for your reply your home is simply lovely, have a great week!