The Olde Mill

A New Website

As we work on updating and moving our website, we will be doing blog posts on the content of our new website. While we work on publishing our much more user-friendly, more attractive, and more accessible website, we think this is a good time and opportunity to reintroduce the antique wood box beam. Stevi Gibson, our web designer, among many other things,     has created a side by side comparison chart on just what makes our rustic ceiling beams a great choice for anyone building or remodeling their home.

 

 Why use The Olde Mill Hollow Box Beams?

The Olde Mill Beams VS. Other Beams

    As Stevi’s chart illustrates, The Olde Mills ceiling beam walks the line between the convenience of hollow foam “faux” beams and the beauty of real, actual wood solid beams.   

While you can go buy a polyurethane beam that has been molded and stained to look like real wood in order to save time and money, we feel like anyone with an eye for detail and a love for antique wood can spot the difference. In our experience it is one thing to see photos of polyurethane beams and quite another to see them in person; the plastic beams just don’t have the gradation, character, or variation that makes real wood such a beautiful and interesting addition to your home. 

    On the other hand, real solid wood beams come with their own set of troubles. You want to buy real solid wood beams for their character and beauty, but simply procuring the beams can be a headache for you or your contractor, and there is usually little guarantee that your beams will match. Solid beams, especially reclaimed and antique ones, are often warped and twisted, leaving you will mismatched beams, which can make getting a matching set very difficult. Not to mention that solid beams, because they weigh a lot, will often need supporting structures in order to stay on your ceiling. If your house doesn’t need the beams for support (and most modern construction doesn’t), why go through the hassle?

    So, why our reclaimed wood hollow box beams? You get the beauty of rustic antique wood and the convenience, reliability, and durability of an engineered, manufactured product. Our beams are lightweight and easy to install (takes two men and a few 1 X 4 planks) because they are real reclaimed Longleaf Pine veneers laminated to a plywood core. You can keep the unfinished, raw look of our untreated Longleaf Pine, or stain the wood to your specifications. Every beam comes straight and untwisted, and to the exact length you need. You can order five or five hundred, and you know that each beam will be consistent.