It’s no secret that a beautiful piece of solid wood timber is a great way to add an eye-catching element to many home fixtures. However, the cost of doing so is unfortunately one stumbling block that more than not, stands in the way.

The price of a simple solid wooden beam can quite easily run into hundreds of pounds and therefore becomes a luxury that sadly, most people just cannot afford.

Luckily, for every problem there is a solution.

With the right tools, a little imagination and just two products from the Frenchic range you can create an incredible aged solid hardwood on almost any new or existing soft-wood feature.

As with every DIY project, planning is key and the first thing to plan is what tools you’re going to need.

For our aged solid hardwood effect project, we decided to recreate a solid wooden beam, similar to those you might find in the ceilings of a grand country house.

The tools we used were:

Concentrated sugar soap

Stiff brush for applying wax                                                                         

Firm sponge

Good quality paint brush

Selection of sharp tools like a chisel, filer, saw and screwdriver

Tin of Frenchic’s Lazy Range paint

Tin of Frenchic browning wax

Our Aged solid hardwood effect beam starts its life out as a simple softwood RSJ cover. A kind of pinewood casing used to box in a metal support joist.

Simply painted black it’s really not much to look at, making it a perfect item to demonstrate this incredible transformation.

Our Aged solid hardwood effect beam starts its life out as a simple softwood RSJ cover. A kind of pinewood casing used to box in a metal support joist.

Simply painted black it’s really not much to look at, making it a perfect item to demonstrate this incredible transformation.

We began by mixing our concentrated sugar soap with some warm water and together with a firm sponge, cleaning the surface of our softwood casing thoroughly.

Then, using our selection of sharp tools we set about adding some authentic looking hardwood imperfections to the surface.

We used a ‘bradawl’ tool to scrape some wood texture along the woodgrain of the casing. A great tool for this job as it’s usually used for marking or piercing wood anyway.

Our screwdriver and chisel both proved perfect for chipping away at the edges of the pine box, helping to create a natural looking worn-down effect.

Likewise, we used our saw to splinter off some large edges.

We even created our own ‘made for purpose tool’ by hammering a few nails through a piece of wood-block and using it to create the appearance of small burrows left by woodworm or naturally occurring dry rot.

 

 

When we were happy with the look of our surfaces, we set about applying the Frenchic paint.

The paint we chose for our aged solid hardwood effect beam was Frenchic’s ‘Creme de la Crème’ from their ‘Lazy Range’.

As with all Frenchic paints, Crème de la Crème went on like a dream.

We applied the first coat in next to no time and set aside to dry for around 4 hours.

A few cups of tea and 4 hours later we started our second coat.

This time, applying the paint in a manner that is the complete opposite to how you would normally approach a smooth wooden surface.

We deliberately overworked the paint by adding too much and actually dragging it across in parts, all to add that extra layer of dimension to our finished look.

As with the first coat, we allowed a further 4 hours of drying time to our second coat. A great excuse to enjoy another cup of tea (or two).

With our final layer of paint dry it was time to apply the browning wax.

Using our stiff brush, we added a generous layer of the Frenchic browning wax and worked it across the surfaces of our softwood casing. The use of a stiff brush really helped to work the wax into the all the crevices and scratches.

With the browning wax on, the finishing line was in sight.

We allowed around an hour to let the wax firm up ever so slightly before using our sponge to buff the surface, taking care not to press too hard or remove any of the wax, yet firm enough to remove any visible brushstrokes.

And that’s it.

Your aged solid hardwood effect fixture is ready to be installed or even reinstalled.

Of all the DIY projects we’ve tried over the last couple of years, this one honestly took us most by surprise at how effective it was in transforming a cheap and boring looking fixture into something very special.

To watch the full video and to learn more about how we created our aged wooden effect beam, just click on the link below.

To explore the full Frenchic range including their ‘lazy range’ as well as their full selection of waxes, click the link below.

https://frenchicpaint.co.uk/pages/our-products?gclid=Cj0KCQjw54iXBhCXARIsADWpsG8qrOzIQbBZVnBIYermA9J3OIuoap8l_gyFuhoKwXH1Jm8cYR7nnpUaApkuEALw_wcB