Type
All our oak fireplace beams are created using Seasoned, Air-Dried European Oak.
Unlike ‘Green Oak’, seasoned oak has acclimatised to its surroundings for a minimum of a year. In most cases, only oak that has been seasoned for 4 years and longer will be used for your oak fireplace beam or mantle.
Characteristics
All air-dried oak beams will naturally lose water during their drying period. This means the oak will have shrunk slightly from its original size. Characteristics including splits or cracks (shakes) will always appear during this drying process.
All our oak beams undergo a straightening process to square the beams prior to dressing and finishing. Knots and cracks will vary from beam to beam and the pictures on this website show a good collection of images showing what should be expected.
An example of cracks that have
naturally formed over time.
Knots are a natural occurrence and will
appear on the flat surfaces of the beam.
Cracks will differ in sizes and are
not detrimental to the beam.