Cypress ceiling and treated beams

[Malcolm Schweizer]

We are redoing the roof and the termites got to this part of the porch roof, which was an addition around the 1960’s. Original porch was all wood. They replaced it with poured concrete uprights and cross beams with a wood roof. The ledgers were treated, but the rest was pine. Termites got to the pine. It was salvageable, but I decided to go with treated beams and tongue and groove cypress. The plan was to varnish the cypress in advance and paint the beams before installing the cypress. It rained and rained unexpectedly after the roof was taken off and I was forced to dry it in and paint and varnish afterwards. Let me tell you- never again will I varnish a ceiling after install. Still getting varnish out of my beard.

I used Minwax spar varnish in satin finish. It is rare to find a UV resistant spar varnish that is not glossy. I absolutely love the look of the varnished ceiling and white rafters. I routed the rafters with an ogee on the edges.

If I may brag, no masking tape was used in this project. I am the master of cutting in. ;-)

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The porch is off the living room and kitchen, and is where we dine unless it’s raining sideways. This change from a white porch roof has really added warmth to the previously blinding all-white porch. I am posting for anyone who may be considering cypress for a ceiling like this. Go with white beams. It really complements the cypress.

[Andrew Hughes]

That’s beautiful Malcom. I’ve reroofed lots of older homes with open beam ceilings it’s a look I really like.
They take extra time to do but worth it any day if the week.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Nicely done!

I too did porch ceiling in cypress (5" bead-board); my beams weren't white (sorry).

Cypress is great to work with and vastly underutilized IMO. I know from other threads that prices vary wildly, but last I heard, the live growth rate is outpacing use by a fair margin. Try to time a purchase for right after a Louisiana hurricane strike ...the salt water storm surge drives into fresh water swamps and kills lots of cypress - so it gets harvested ASAP.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

That’s beautiful Malcom. I’ve reroofed lots of older homes with open beam ceilings it’s a look I really like.
They take extra time to do but worth it any day if the week.

Thanks. My entire downstairs has exposed ceilings to the heart pine floors upstairs, but unfortunately they were painted long ago- probably from day 1. I wanted to also do the adjoining kitchen roof this way, but in short- $$$$$$.


Nicely done!

I too did porch ceiling in cypress (5" bead-board); my beams weren't white (sorry).

Cypress is great to work with and vastly underutilized IMO. I know from other threads that prices vary wildly, but last I heard, the live growth rate is outpacing use by a fair margin. Try to time a purchase for right after a Louisiana hurricane strike ...the salt water storm surge drives into fresh water swamps and kills lots of cypress - so it gets harvested ASAP.

My local lumber yard got in a huge shipment and let me hand pick my stock. It had very few knots. Home Depot, in the other hand, had some nice tongue and groove firewood. I bought 16’ lengths so there were straight runs on each hip. Not sure what you guys pay, but these cost me $25 a board here.

[Michael A. Tyree]

Given that the US Virgin Islands is the single most expensive place on earth that I've visited, honestly I'm surprised you can buy a board there for $25 bucks...
We stayed in our tent in the national park and ate camp food our entire time there, great snorkling though!

[Erik Loza]

Malcolm: NICE!!!

Erik

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Given that the US Virgin Islands is the single most expensive place on earth that I've visited, honestly I'm surprised you can buy a board there for $25 bucks...
We stayed in our tent in the national park and ate camp food our entire time there, great snorkling though!

I guess you’ve never been to Bermuda. A coffee and bagel there will run ya $20. The national park tents are kinda pricey. St. John also very pricey due to the stuff having to land in St. Thomas and then be ferried over. If you ever visit again, let me know. I will give you insider tips.

I can ship stuff really cheap on Tropical from Miami. Usually I buy wood in bulk with other woodworkers and ship it down. The cypress was a one-off thing. I had to go with what I can get locally. Luckily they just got in a very large shipment. Really nice stuff.

[Jon Nuckles]

Malcolm, That looks fantastic and you are entitled to brag about your painting skills. I couldn't produce that clean of a line if I painted them before installation!

[Edwin Santos]

I guess you’ve never been to Bermuda. A coffee and bagel there will run ya $20. The national park tents are kinda pricey. St. John also very pricey due to the stuff having to land in St. Thomas and then be ferried over. If you ever visit again, let me know. I will give you insider tips.

I can ship stuff really cheap on Tropical from Miami. Usually I buy wood in bulk with other woodworkers and ship it down. The cypress was a one-off thing. I had to go with what I can get locally. Luckily they just got in a very large shipment. Really nice stuff.

Heh, I used to tell anyone who thought the USVI was expensive to definitely avoid Bermuda or worse yet, Grand Cayman, especially if you have a heart condition that might not tolerate the sticker shock.

When I ended up in Grand Cayman as a starving college student, even back then, the best I could do was find a lady named Irma who let me rent a room with the added condition that I climb up and cut down the coconuts on the six trees around her house. She proceeded to sell the coconuts to a guy who had a stall in the market and long story short, she came out the winner and taught me a better business lesson that what I was getting in university.