staining/sealing post and beam home

[shamban]

Hello Everyone,

We have spent the past year constructing a post and beam home here in Ohio. We actually hired a company to assemble the high timbers in the home. We are finishing the drywall at this time. We are in a financial position in that we must finish out the house ourselves, and I do not have a background in painting/staining. What I am wondering is what would be the simpliest way to stain and seal the Douglas Fir posts and beams (like a barn) inside the home. There are a lot of them and much of the area is in very high places. I am concerned about the amount of work sanding, staining, sealing, sanding, sealing would be. The fact of the matter is that it does need to be durable like a floor or furniture. Just attractive. Does anyone have any recommendations for us? Are there any products out there suited for what we need?

Thanks for the help,

Joe

[RRG]

Joe,
Not sure how much help I can offer but we are doing the same thing right now in our cabin with exposed rafters and T&G ceilings.
As far as the heigth it is up & down ladders in all but the area above the living room. There the heigth is about 22 ft from floor to peak and I have scaffolding for that.

I've sanded all the 1x8 wall boards before nailing them up to clean them up and remove any black ink stamps from the mill.

I originaly planned on sanding the rafters too, but I am very tired of sanding!
We are just staining and sealing them as is.
It is a darker stain (Dark Natural) and covers well with 2 coats.

We went with Permachinks water based stains and sealers both inside and out.
I am pleased with the results as well as the ease of clean up and fast shipping.

[jrhode]

Hope this isn't too late... I've been busy working on my own timberframe!

Typically, the post & beams in these homes get oiled with a natural oil, not sealed and varnish. Sealing & varnishing just isn't practical for several reasons - the beams move, check, & crack for many years after raising (potentially causing finish to fail), it would be very time consuming to go over each beam four or five times (minimum, unless you're not staining. -Stain, seal, sand, dust, varnish), and usually these homes are aiming for a more simple or rustic look. A varnish type product tends to make it look more formal.

I would suggest a danish oil. They contain linseed oil or tung oil, which penetrates the surface of the wood and seals it from within. It can actualy make the surface of the wood harder, but it doesn't leave a glassy smooth film/surface like your doors and windows probably have. This gives you a finished product in one step, and it really does look nice and work well. There are many different colors, and if you want you can intermix them to make custom colors, too.

I'm currently working on a multi-million dollar home with large (10x12 & larger) rough sawn fir posts and beams, and we're using watco danish oil.

Here's a link:

http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=112&SBL=1