Barn Wood Veneer

While we remodeled our house, we rented the house next door. After 6 months of a mostly ideal living situation, we were more than ready to call our place home, even if the house wasn't "finished." One of the finishing touches we were willing to live without was lovely-looking structural beams.

The first visit from the county inspector affirmed our suspicions that the house was on the county's radar. It had been "red tagged" and considered unlivable for many reasons: an illegal sewer hook-up, the electrical wiring was definitely not up to code, and the house was structurally unsound. This is what the house originally looked like:

Not structurally sound & with questionable electric

With the help of a structural engineer it was determined that we needed to put in three beams to sufficiently bear the load of the roof. We chose to use tri-lams. These are boards laminated together and would be appropriate for our needs. While we liked the look from the running glue and the lettering stamped on the side, we also knew they could look better. Enter the now ubiquitous barn wood.

Our neighbor dismantled a barn several years ago and the wood has been aging further in his yard. Practically all of the wooden features of our home have been constructed out of this wood that has so much character. (See this post for shelving and kitchen pics.) We love its warmth and the instant lived-in/rustic feel it adds to the house. Compare the tri-lam beams to the barn veneer:

View from the living room before.

The view from the living room with the barn veneer.

The bathroom before

The bathroom after. Can you see the saw marks?

The veneer is temporarily tacked up and will be permanently installed some time in the future. I hesitate to say when because while starting a project is easy, finishing one never is. I'll post pictures when the project is finished.

And for those ornithologists out there, we know that our roadrunner latch hook  is not anatomically correct--a roadrunner has 4 toes, two that face forward and two towards the rear. We're ok with some artistic license to satisfy aesthetics.