Buying Oak and Timber Beams
Oak and Douglas fir timber beams, cut to size at our Wiltshire sawmills. A large stock of seasoned oak beams serves trade and retail customers, with delivery available. The sawmills also cut oak garden sleepers to order.
Our sawmill has cut oak for over forty years. Choose fresh sawn green oak for framing, seasoned oak dried for a year or more, or Douglas fir as a lower-cost option. Curved braces and shaped oak posts complete the range. Qualified graders grade beams for structural use.
Every beam comes from our own saws. Many suppliers buy pre-cut beams from overseas mills instead. Cutting in house means full control over quality and accuracy, plus a quick turnaround when you need one.
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With decades of experience, our team has a thorough knowledge of selecting, sawing and grading oak beams for structural uses. We supply specifications for entire oak frames as well as individual oak beams for smaller projects and restoration.
Types of Oak Beams
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View our Resource Centre for technical information and advice to help you specify and install our timber products.
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Performance
Builders have constructed buildings from fresh sawn oak for centuries, and many of these original oak framed buildings are still standing.
Fresh sawn oak beams are cut directly from oak logs and are delivered wet or ‘green’. This literally means that there is a lot of water in the oak.
Fresh sawn beams will shrink as they dry. Most of the shrinkage will occur across the thickness and width. A general rule of thumb is to expect 10% shrinkage as the beam dries out. Wood does not tend to shrink too much in the length.
Fresh sawn oak will also split as it dries. This can be alarming but providing the grain is relatively straight, the splits will have no detrimental impact on the structural strength of the beam.
For renovation work it is sometimes necessary to limit the shrinkage potential of the oak. This is where seasoned oak becomes useful. These partially dried oak beams have done most of their shrinking in our yard and will be more stable once installed. Seasoned beams will arrive with drying cracks on the surface.
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Grading of Oak Beams
Grading starts with the tree. To produce oak beams of the right quality we need oak trees suited to the job. Our log buyer scours English woodlands and the oak forests of France to find oak logs that fit the bill. Once in the yard, we separate oak logs by size, length and quality, ready to be matched against customer orders.
After sawing, we grade oak beams to meet customer requirements. Our two qualified graders are capable of grading to the British standard 5756 or to the European grading rules . We also frequently grade oak beams to bespoke customer grades.
Talk to us if you are struggling to buy the grade of oak beams that you want. We may be able to help.
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Oak Beam FAQs
What is the difference between green and air dried oak beams?
Do you offer curved and shaped oak beams?
How do I clean my oak beams?
Are your oak beams cut to size?
Do you provide installation services?
Do you provide delivery services?
Are oak beams expensive?
Where do oak beams come from?
Why have my oak beams turned blue?
Are oak beams graded?
Why do oak beams split?
Disclaimer
While the utmost care has been taken to provide accurate information, Vastern Timber shall not be held responsible for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions on this website nor for any damages resulting from the use of the information.
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