Our Services & Oak Finishes - Traditional Oak and Timber Co

Once you have decided to purchase your oak beams or products from us, Traditional Oak and Timber Co. offers a wide range of services and finishes. From the cleaning and treatment of our oak to delivery worldwide, we aspire to give you exactly what you are looking for. We will ensure that dealing with us is as pleasant an experience as possible.

Tools of the trade

Other than cutting the larger sectioned oak beams on the big band saws, all of the work carried out on the beams is done by hand. We use both modern and traditional methods together to give you what you want from your oak. Beams can be cleaned, de-nailed, sanded, washed, wire brushed, sand blasted, hand chamfered, treated and waxed.

Hollowing beams out

Hollowed out oak beams can cover piping, cables, RSJs and more. As you can see from the pictures we are able to hollow-out both reclaimed oak and air dried oak beams. The middle of the beam is cut with a chainsaw and then hand-chiseled away. We leave at least 25mm(1″) of the beam thickness all around to ensure sufficient strength in the beam.

This process means we are able to supply beams that totally encapsulate an RSJ, for example, rather than showing joins. The pictures show two beams that have been cleaned. The smoother air dried beam has also been sanded and the rustic reclaimed beam has been washed and wire brushed. It’s not a quick process but at Trad Oak we pride ourselves on doing the job properly.

Sanding oak beams

Here you can see an air dried oak beam being sanded down. This brings the light oak colour out and allows the grain to show. More rustic air dried oak beams have splits and cracks from natural movement, so when sanded down the character of the wood is more obvious. Sanding is also available on reclaimed oak beams to remove any loose, dried sap-wood from the surface.

Here you can see the air dried oak before and after the sanding process. When the oak is air drying the natural elements and weather give it a silvery finish.

Waxing beams

This shows air dried oak before and after waxing. As cleaned, air dried oak has a light colour, it is almost like a blank canvas, meaning you can apply other finishes. We have a variety of waxes from almost clear to dark oak colour. Reclaimed oak can also be waxed, but the older oak is already darker in colour, so waxing compliments the beam with a slight shine.

Our oak products can be given anti-infestation treatment which helps protect the timber. All the reclaimed oak is treated as a matter of course. Air dried pieces are treated on request. This also gives peace of mind when installing oak into your property.

Chamfering

With air dried beams we can soften the sharp corners by chamfering. This is done by hand and can give an aged look to the oak if the chamfers are irregular. If they are straighter and more regularised they are known as ‘stop chamfers’.

This set of stairs was fabricated from air dried oak. The edges were then chamfered by hand to give the stairs a more aged look, to be in keeping with other parts of the property.

Delivery

At Traditional Oak we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and a personal touch. Our delivery service means you will get the product you want as soon as possible, from small pieces to full lorry loads.

Orders can be delivered 7 days a week, if necessary, and at no extra cost above standard delivery.

We stress that delivery is not our main business, so we do not charge more than it costs us to deliver.

Oak Beam Finishes

Oak can be finished in many ways. Just let us know the look you are after when you contact us and we’ll make sure it fits the look and feel needed for your design.