Oak Beam Grades
Green structural oak is simply fresh cut oak that has been felled in the last 3 - 6 months. It has a relatively high moisture content and is therefore prone to shrinkage and movement as the drying process takes it course. The shrinkage and movement is by no means certain but it is a good idea to take it into account when making your purchase. Green oak is almost completely responsible for the construction of the UKs stately homes and ancient dwellings (so it cannot be so bad!) and should be viewed as a characterful alternative to air dried oak for structural internal use. It is also perfect for outdoor pergolas, barns and all types of new build constructions.
Air dried structural oak is exactly as it sounds, oak dries relatively slowly (approx 25 - 40mm per year) this is a general rule and should not be relied upon, it depends heavily on the environment in which the oak is stored. Our air dried oak beams have been stored in perfect drying conditions for between 3 - 5 years. We are happy that they can be relied upon to provide as much protection as is possible against future shrinkage or movement, in fact we believe that our beams are the very best available and are sourced from a consortium of 5 professional sawmill in northern France who specialise in nothing else!!
All the oak beams on this site are rough sawn, the preferred finish for period properties!
QP1 Grade Beams
Qp1 grade beams have a minimum of 3 straight edges with tolerance of a small amount of wane to one edge, (normally all four are completely square) they will have very few knots, no redwood, insect damage or other detrimental characteristics. QP1 ticks every box for the construction industry and sympathetic period property restorers. A full rundown of the Qp grading rules is available at the following link www.fnbois.com/indexeng.php
