 All of our products are delivered in a “Paint Ready" condition with a double primer coat. Our wood grained and stone textured items come in beige, and all others white. All items may be painted prior to, or after installation. As a general rule, the fancier the finish, the more beneficial it would be to apply the finish prior to installation, depending on your application and the skills of your painter and installer.
For painted finishes, all components may be treated just like wood. Most enamels and lacquers will work just fine. For exterior applications use the same paint that is used on your house or trim.
For the “stained wood look" we recommend either MinWax Gel Stain or the use of water-based lacquers. We use lacquer instead of enamel because the lacquer will dry quicker between coats. This finish is two coats of ICI Sinclair LW504 clear dead flat lacquer, as shown on page 5. We tint the lacquer with ICI Sinclair basic tints. The first coat is a medium to dark brown color sprayed on. We then take a moist sponge and wipe to the color desired. This is allowed to dry, and our second coat is a very dark brown (almost black) color which is brushed into the grain and cracks. Again we wipe with a moist sponge to achieve the desired effect. You may apply additional colors depending on the look desired. We suggest testing your finish on a small area prior to doing your whole project. For exterior applications, such as our bamboo, we recommend applying a UV protecting clear coat.
 All of our products can be installed using standard woodworking tools. We recommend using a high quality construction adhesive along with screws or nails. Be sure to put your fasteners through to studs or joists. For patching joints and holes, use a non-shrinking sandable latex filler on interior products, and automotive bondo for exterior applications.
Beam installation is an easy, process. If you are not comfortable with your measuring and cutting skills you might want to have a finish contractor install them for you.
Step 1 Decide the placement of your beams. Remember, you may have objects on your ceiling that might hender exact placement. Such as lights , fans, AC vents, smoke detectors, and fire sprinklers.
Step 2 Measure and mark on the ceiling the center of each beam. Snap a chalk line from mark to mark. This will give you a line to place your supports on from one side of the ceiling to the other.
Step 3 You should use
2x3 or 2x4 blocks bevel cut to fit the inner space of your beam. You should use 1 block every 4 ft of beam. The blocks are best held in place with a
3/16th x 4 inch toggle bolt
. Drill holes in the ceiling along the chalk line using a 1/2 inch drill bit. put your toggle bolts through a hole drilled directly in the center of you blocks. (You do not need to hit a stud to hold these beams up. If you do hit a stud replace your toggle bolts with 4 inch deck screws). Tighten your block as tight as you can without pulling them through the drywall.
Step 4 Measure and cut your beam to length. Apply construction adhesive to the beam, put beam over your blocks and nail each side of the beam into the blocks with finishing nails. The finishing nails should be about 2 inch long for the larger beam and 1 1/2 inch long for the smaller beams.
Step 5 You may have gaps at the bottom ends of your beams. These can be filled with our walnut colored
XTRA-BOND 9500 caulk/adheasive
Blocks, Toggles,and Adheasive can be found in our
Tools and Supplies section. |
Products