Installing our 100+ year old beam.
Hey Friends! I had a lot of questions about the beam we installed in our kitchen a few weeks ago!
We’re gonna rewind a few years….. One day I came across a standard Facebook Marketplace post, someone was selling an old beam in upstate CT! I thought it looked cute, and we had the whole weekend to spare… so we headed to take a look, turns out the seller owns a WHOLE warehouse of old beams, doors, and mantels. They were called ReWorx…. and the owners had a business from restoring old wood from, farms, dilapidated cabins or buildings! and either re-selling them or turning them into other pieces of furniture. You can find more info about them HERE
It was as though we had opened pandoras box to charming old wood…who knew we’d love it so.
We had our choice of so many different beams and furniture pieces and there she was, under a few Art Deco doors and dusty mantels… a 150 old beam from VT … and she was 12ft long….. Let’s just say, we’re not really sure how we made it home with it strapped to the roof of our Jeep Cherokee, a 45 minute drive through the winding roads and big bumps….but low and behold we did! and there she sat, in our garage…. for 2 and a half YEARS!
When coronavirus self isolation hit, we thought what better time to attempt to get her up!
We’re very lucky that my husband’s career is structural engineering. Mike pretty much knew exactly how to get her up and in place and pretty effortlessly too! First of all Mike had to cut into the beam (which half broke my heart but was the only way she would fit). We cut her into an ‘L’ shape so she would fit snugly over the header from our kitchen going into the back of our home.
Beam after cut 
Existing header 
Pole Saw
We thought a chainsaw might be a little too boisterous for our beam so we had to use a pole saw…. (work with what you’ve got!). We measured and scored a straight line with chalk, and started cutting. You could also do this with a new beam too, and you can just stain it to your liking. We were trying to be extra cautious because of how old the beam is. Once we successfully go it all cut it was time to try and install!
Now comes the heavy lifting…. Mike got extra long bolts, and pre drilled the header and the beam itself so it didn’t have a higher chance of splitting the wood, and the screws also pull through easier. Our screws were large 5 inch screws and we used 7, throughout both sides of the beam.
The video, naturally looks easier than it was, but the whole process was still pretty easy … minus the cutting, that took some sweat, and a lot of time!
I just love it! It really pulls the room together and gives me all the nostalgic English cottage feels!
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