How to Age Wooden Beams

Wooden beams that look aged are an attractive addition to your home decor. They can give your ceilings, porches and other areas in your home a rustic, country-style appearance. Faux finishing kits tend to be expensive and often are hard to find. You can use paint, a hammer and carpenter's wood glue to get a vintage, weathered look on the beams within a few hours.

Hammer
Dusting tool
Latex or acrylic paint (black or dark brown and a lighter brown)
Paintbrushes
Carpenter's wood glue

Instructions

- 1
  Use a hammer to create dents and scratches in your wood beam.
- 2
  Use a soft cleaning cloth to get rid of any dust, wood debris, dirt or cobwebs on the wood beam.
- 3
  Paint the wood beam with a black or dark brown latex paint. This paint color will show through cracks once the project is complete. You can use any two-color combination you desire, but if you want a more natural look, black and brown shades work well. Allow the paint to dry well.
- 4
  Spread the carpenter's wood glue onto the entire wood beam surface with a clean paintbrush. The second paint color must go on top of the still-wet glue before it dries, so work quickly. A thick coat of the glue results in large cracks in the final product; a thinner coat of glue creates hairline cracks.
- 5
  Paint the wood beam with the second paint color while the wood glue is wet.
- 6
  Allow the second coat of paint to dry thoroughly according to the directions on the paint. You will see the beam take on an aged appearance as it dries.
- 7
  Seal the wood beam with a final coat of glue and another clean paint brush. This protects the aged finish.

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