THE Beams.

Yes, I am devoting an entire post to beams.  THE beams.  Because since the moment I laid my eyes on this house, long before we ever signed a contract to build, I had to have them.  To me, they just MAKE this house.  Such a jaw-dropping statement.  I saw several model homes and every single one of them had THE beams.  I really felt the house would look empty, or the ceiling would be a huge sea of white without them.  So one way or another I was going to make it happen!

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That is one of the model homes by our builder and you can see how amazing these beams look with such a big great room and the tall ceilings.  Am I the only one drooling here??

Below is a portion of our floor plan with where I wanted the beams to go.  You can actually purchase the beams through the builder and they will install 7 of them spreading across the grand room and kitchen.  BUT THEY ARE SOOOO EXPENSIVE.  I’m talking like so many thousands of dollars you wouldn’t believe it.  And there was absolutely no way that was fitting in the budget.  But I was determined.

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I searched DIY alternatives like these faux beams below from Home Depot.  But they weren’t exactly cheap either, and I still would have had to hang them myself on a 12′ ceiling while pregnant (NOPE) or pay someone even more to hang them for me.  So those were out.

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So I called a couple local contractors to get quotes on installing the beams for us after closing.  I got 2 or 3 quotes all right around the same price as the builder wanted to charge us.  I was super bummed and thought this dream was going to remain just that.  A lot of people have asked, couldn’t I do this myself?  And the answer is probably, yes.  I’ve seen tutorials out there online and if I wasn’t 8 months pregnant with a toddler when it needed done, I would have loved to attempt it myself and save the money.  It’s also at least a 2 person job, which makes it even more difficult, and dealing with 12′ ceilings is a little taller than my liking.  So hiring someone was really the best option.  I continued my search of contractors and finally found someone that quoted the job for a FRACTION of what everyone else did.  To the point I almost thought it was too good to be true.  But I did my research, he was licensed, insured, and highly recommended in the area.  I was ecstatic!  This was actually going to happen!  (If you’re local it was McClain Custom Carpentry and Grizzly Home Services that collaborated together to make my beams!)

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The above diagram is what I used to explain to him what I wanted.  The beams are hollow, comprised of 4 one by boards to make a box.

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Here’s a picture of them mid install.  You can see the unfinished board parallel to the ceiling that is attached with the toggle bolts.  Then the stained boards are attached to that using finish nails.  The beams are stained in my favorite color, Varathane Briarsmoke.

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The boards are 16′ long and the room is approximately 25′ long.  As I mentioned before, the builder usually installs 7 beams, and they will move your light fixtures, fan vents, can lights etc. to work around the beams so that all the beams are equidistant apart.  Since I didn’t pay the builder to move any of those things, I was forced to work around all the existing ‘things’ on the ceiling.  I wasn’t able to do 7, but 6 beams, and they weren’t able to be exactly equidistant, but pretty close.  You really can’t tell with your eyes.

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Action shot mid install!  You can see how they have multiple ladders and made a “walkway” using a 12″ board between the ladders.  THIS is why I didn’t attempt this myself and quite frankly I don’t think my husband would have let me.

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This was such an exciting day for me you guys!  Literally watching my dreams unfold haha!

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Scary!

Below is a close up where you can see the connection of the different boards.

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And here they are all finished!

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Fan can be found here.

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Fan here.

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I will show more pictures of the entire grand room very soon!  I can’t wait to reveal it all!  Comment and let me know your thoughts, I love hearing from you guys!

 

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