Exposing our Original 1840’s Timber Beams in the Kitchen
TIMBER FRAME BEAMS Can you believe that we found ORIGINAL TIMBER FRAME BEAMS from the 1840’s in our historic home! When Don started removing the drywall ceiling in the kitchen, that is when we struck…
TIMBER FRAME BEAMS
Can you believe that we found ORIGINAL TIMBER FRAME BEAMS from the 1840’s in our historic home!
When Don started removing the drywall ceiling in the kitchen, that is when we struck gold! Well not gold literally but, gold in our eyes none the less.
Exposed Timber Beams-Kitchen After

The kitchen before only had 7′ ceilings, so super low ceilings. And, of course, the only nice ceilings in the entire home were in the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room. But not for LONG!

Kitchen-Before

Hint: We used a tool called a Steel Tamper. The old attic was above these 3 rooms. Don used the tamper in the above attic, to tap on the drywall ceiling in between the timber frame beams to loosen it from the ceiling. If was fast and very easy to do. The drywall usually comes of in big hunks.
Downfall: You will have A LOT of drywall screws to remove from the timber beams, but that goes fairly quickly as well.
DRYWALL CEILING REMOVED- AND EXPOSED TIMBER FRAME BEAMS
These historic beams were dusty, dirty, and full of cobwebs, but we LOVED them just the same! Finding those beams was going to change the whole look of our home. Suddenly I had the Cottage Beams I had always longed for and dreamt about.

Hint: We had a couple of existing rafters that had cracked and split (we think a big tree branch must have hit the roof at some point in time) Don re-enforced them with oak splints and structural screws.
You never can tell what you will find when you are renovating a historic home. Don is adding a piece of plywood to cover an old widow opening. We think the kitchen was the original part of the home, and they added the colonial in the front and the carriage house in the back. Also, at some point in time they added the dining room and bathroom.
We have timber beams throughout the entire home, so we believe the renovations happened fairly quickly.
Exposed Beams & Knob and Tube Wiring
As you can see the drywall has been removed exposing the timber frame beams, you can also see the old knob and tube wiring that was buried under the insulation It was frayed, and in terrible shape, as expected.

Hint: Purchase an electrical tester! We found several of these old wires buried under the insulation that were still hot!
Hidden Surprises
As with many historic homes, you never know what you will find. After our blown in insulation was removed from the attic, we had to remove tons of bird nests and mice droppings in the rafters on the east side of the kitchen. Don and I used a large Shop Vac, large kitchen tongs, and large metal outside trash cans lined with garbage bags, long gloves, and a respirator! That was such a messy job…we filled 3 of the large trash cans.

Adding RafterVenting
We installed rafter venting with a staple gun, to help the attic breathe. It improves air circulation in the attic and can be cut to fit most joist spaces.

Timber Beams
This is just an in process shot of the kitchen. On the right of the picture, we added a new structural pine beam for support, after making the doorway wider.

Stained Timber Beams
There were originally three wood species of beams in our home, white oak, red oak, poplar, and the structural beams we added were southern yellow pine, so 4 different color tones of wood. We stained them all dark so they would all look the same. The stain color is Jacobean. The beams are so amazing, you can see the axe marks from the axes, the square holes they chiseled out, the circular holes for the wooden pegs. It is amazing what they did with such primitive tools!
This beam on the left of the kitchen that the clock is located on is original to the house.

Kitchen With Original 1840’s Timber Beams!
I knew my kitchen was going to be beautiful when we renovated it, but I never expected to find original timber beams from the 1840’s! It is just so Elegant, and Cozy at the same time.

After finding the original beams I knew we would be installing new timber beams throughout our timber home!
I have a Fun Fact for you: Timber Framed homes in the United States were usually built in the 1600’s till about the mid 1800’s!
Our Story Continues…
Let’s get to the other two rooms. Follow along with us as we remove the drywall ceilings in the bathroom, and dining room, and do plaster repair to our ceilings and walls. You will also see how we are installing new timber beams throughout our home to match the existing timber beams.
There are still many rooms that await renovation, and I invite you to join me on this journey!
You won’t want to miss a thing. Until next time…
Catherine