How to Choose your Perfect Oak Beam
Oak Beam Mantels
We believe that your Oak Fireplace Beam should add the final finishing touch to your fireplace. As such we want to guide you through the various options available when choosing your perfect Country and Coast Oak beam.
The first decision you should consider is style. By 'style' we are referring to the shaped edges of the oak beam. Each Solid oak mantel is shaped by hand on all visible sides including the ends. The different types of hand shaping to the edges creates the overall look and feel of the fireplace oak beam. So, which shaped edging would suit your homes interior the best? Here are the shape choices explained:
Oak Beam Styles
Modern shaped beams have their hard, sharp, square edges slightly flattened and rounded off. Often referred to as 'Scandinavian style' modern oak beams retain their clean straight lines with no carved, curved edges edges. As with all of our oak beams Modern shaped oak mantelpieces are finely sanded back to a smooth finish and shaped on all visible edges. In addition the end grain of the oak beam is sealed for a high quality finish.
Our Modern Oak Beams look great in both very modern interiors and traditional period Cheshire homes alike. Our modern fireplace beams add the perfect finishing touch to modern electric fires, traditional gas fires and log burning stoves.
Our Traditional oak beam is the 'original' oak beam most people think of when they are imagining a beautiful chunky oak fireplace beam. Traditional oak fireplace mantels are shaped in a classic medium style with hand carved, curved irregular shaped edges for a more characterful look and finish. Although they are more 'Rustic' in style than modern beams. Traditionally shaped Oak fireplace beams, like with all of our oak beams, are finely sanded back and shaped on all visible edges. They are completely smooth to the touch with the end grain sealed for a high quality finish.
Nowadays many contemporary homes in Cheshire and North Wales are fitted with log burning stoves and gas effect stoves, as such our traditional solid oak beams are suited all home interiors both modern and traditional.
For a more 'aged' style our Rustic Oak Beams are hand crafted and shaped from specially selected oak beams. We hand pick beams with particular 'rustic' characteristics such as knots, pin holes, heavy grain, some marginal splits and cracks. All these natural characteristics add to the 'rustic' charm of a seemingly aged, chunky characterful oak mantelpiece. Rustic fireplace beams are heavily shaped with deeper, non uniform curves and gouged edges. Some edges are left slightly rough to add texture and dimension. All flat sides are finely sanded back with a smooth to the touch finish.
Rustic oak fireplace beams blend seamlessly with country cottage, Cheshire farmhouse style interiors however they are also perfect for adding a touch of rustic charm and character to any fireplace or home. Our Rustic Cheshire oak fireplace beams look fabulous over all log burning stoves.
Oak Beam Lengths
All of our Oak Fireplace Beams and Oak Fire Surrounds can be ordered from our shop in a range of standard, popular lengths ranging from 3ft to 8ft, changing in price every half foot. All oak beams can be cut any length, making sure you get the exact size for your fireplace.
When deciding upon the length you may also wish to consider the following -
As length increases so does weight (coupled with dimension size of the beam) what kind of wall is my oak beam to be mounted on – brick, plastered masonry or stud wall? For stud walls please contact us about slimline, lighter weight oak Fascia Beams. We also have our stud wall mounting pins for getting your oak beam in place.
How big is your fireplace opening and/or chimney breast? Most oak fireplace beams look best when they are longer that the opening but a little shorter on each side of the chimney breast.
If you have a particular size in mind that isn't listed in our shop simply get in touch and we will cut and shape your oak beam to your exact size. You can message us with your desired length in inches or cm. At Country and Coast we welcome bespoke, made to measure orders.
Oak Beam Colours
At Country and Coast we try to avoid adding artificial wood colours to our Oak Mantels and Fascia beams. Instead we prefer to enhance the natural colours and tones of the oak with premium polishes and oils. To achieve a darker shade however we colour do have to use a little bit of help from a wood stain.
All oak has its own natural colour which forms the basis for the finished colour achieved for your oak beam. Some are naturally light, others dark, and some with warm or golden undertones. We select a piece of oak to your exact colour choice and then add polish, oil, wax or stain to achieve the desired colour.
Light Oak Beam - light oak cannot be achieved by adding colour. It is simply achieved by selecting the lightest piece of oak we have in stock and finishing with nothing more than a clear premium wax buffed to a semi matt sheen.
Medium Oak Beam – is achieved by adding Danish Oil. Danish oil is a wonderful product for enhancing all the natural hues and tones in the oak. It is by far the most popular finish and achieves a colour that is suited best to any home interior, blending well with any other existing oak furniture or colour schemes. It brings out the very best in every piece of oak, simple yet very very effective. Premium wax polish adds the finishing touch, buffed to a semi matt sheen for extra lustre.
Dark Oak Beam– Darkening the oak's natural colour can only be achieved with a wood stain or coloured oil. We apply either dark Danish oil or Jacobean oak colour to the oak and finish with a coat of clear Danish oil and premium wax polish buffed to a lustrous semi sheen.
White Washed Oak Beam- A new addition to our line. These beams are created by building up layers of paint, sanding them back and repainting. The finished product is a lovely washed out look which can be coloured to match flooring or other furniture in your room. Although called 'white wash' we can use any pastel colour. Making an original one of a kind beam!
Oak Beam Sizes
Our Oak Beams come in a variety of popular, practical dimensions - 4”x4”, 5”x4”, 5”x5”, 6”x4”, 7”x4” and 8”x4” etc.We also cut and shape our lightweight Fascia Oak Beams for example 5”x2”, 6”x2” and our most popular 8x3" oak Fascia beam.
Dimension refers to the Height and Depth of the beam. In our shop this is listed as H”x D” for example a 6”x4”. A 6” x 4” beam has a 6” height (or what we refer to as beam face) with a 4” depth ( or what we call shelf coming out from the wall). Your oak beam for fireplace can be fitted to your wall in either way i.e 6” face with 4” shelf or vice versa, however we need to know in advance so that we can shape your beam's from 'face accordingly and pre drill your fittings to the correct side. To let us know which way you prefer simply add it to your order details.
Fitting
Your oak fireplace beam comes complete with heavy duty concealed brackets pre drilled into the beam making it ready to mount to the your wall easily. We do have a instructional video on how to mount your beam using our mounting pins.
Stud wallls are often though as a problem when mounting oak beams, but not with our stud wall mounting pins. These pins are made solely for stud walls allowing our customers almost the same selection of beams as one mounted into brick!
Oak Beam Fireplace
