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Making a Ceiling Beam

6K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  Richforever 
#1 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
 

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#2 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
Julie, please make sure that you have clearance above the pot lights. Don't know which ones your using but most require at least 1/2" air space above and some need complete airspace above to allow heat to escape. Pat
 

Attachments

#3 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
Interesting project-looking forward to your next installment!
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
Great start, These ceilings really look great
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
Pat, I checked the clearance on the paperwork that came with the lights before I decided on the depth of the box. I actually read instructions!
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
Julie, I'm bringing you up on charges! Instruction reading! Something like that might spread and then where would we be? Knowledge is a dangerous weapon.
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Planning and Getting Started

Our basement needed new paint and flooring and a few minor renovations. In our large "living room" or "rec room" I wanted to put up a beam with lights in it. Here is what I was dealing with:
(Right side below:)
Wood Gas Paint Ceiling Building

(Left side below:)
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


My original plan was to put a wood beam up against the bulkhead (lower) portion that contains some ducting. Because of the two vents in the ceiling, I realized that would be impossible without a lot of tearing out, so I decided to put the beam below the bulkhead instead.

The total length, just under 16', was far too long to put one piece of wood, so there had to be joints in the beam. Instead of just straight joints I realized I could highlight the joint and make it look like a dovetail, so I made two joints along the length of the beam like this:

Rectangle Parallel Font Tints and shades Slope


The beam would be hollow and allow four pot lights to be put inside. I decided to make it like this, with plywood sides and bottom, and 2Ă—2's to screw the box sides to.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


I used basic (rough) plywood which I cut into strips. I drew out a dovetail on the end of my side pieces and cut with a jigsaw.
Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood


I then laid the cut piece over another to mark and then cut the piece that the dovetail would fit into.
Brown Rectangle Wood Tints and shades Beige

This is how they would look joined together:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Flooring


I measured out to find where the holes needed to be for the pot lights and cut those out of my bottom pieces:
Wood Gas Artifact Hardwood Beige


I screwed the 2Ă—2 pieces to the ceiling after finding wood studs behind. You can see that I set them back from the front the thickness of the plywood, so that when the beam is up it will run even with the front vertical bulkhead wall. My husband set up the electrical wiring so that it came out where the end of the beam would be. You can see those wires hanging down at the bottom of this photo. This runs from two switch boxes, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the opposite far end of the beam.
(Left side below:)
Wood Publication Stairs Hardwood Flooring

(Right side below:)
Table Shelf Wood Rectangle Drawer


I'll be back next time to show you how it all went together, stay tuned!
That is one big dovetail. Very nicely done Julie
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Installing the Beam

As I said previously my beam is made like this, with the bottom piece having tongues on each edge which sit in grooves in the side pieces. So the next thing I did was put grooves in all the side pieces and made rabbets on the bottom pieces, which left the tongues to go into the grooves.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


The next job was to stain all the pieces:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Tints and shades Hardwood


I glued just one side piece to the bottom piece, this would allow me (actually my husband) to wire up the lights easier than trying to do it with a completed beam.

Here you can see that the beam is just an L shape for now with the front (side piece) off. I screwed the back side piece into the 2Ă—2s. This way the wiring is inside and cut to the proper lengths for each of the four pot lights.
Wood Automotive exterior Shade Tints and shades Ceiling


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Natural material


The pot lights were then wired in place and could be checked to see that they worked properly before sealing up the beam:
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Composite material Beam


The front side piece was then screwed in to the 2Ă—2s at the top (after this photo was taken I painted the screws a brown that left them pretty much invisible):
Brown Wood Rectangle Amber Wood stain


and also glued and clamped along the bottom:
Wood Stairs Hardwood Gas Flooring


Here's the finished dovetail, which I actually put more dark stain around so that the shape of the dovetail would show up better:
Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Building Wood Fixture Wood stain Floor

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


BEFORE:
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


AFTER:
Wood Building Wall Material property Composite material


Hope this gives you some ideas for your own ceiling beam.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
Installing the Beam

As I said previously my beam is made like this, with the bottom piece having tongues on each edge which sit in grooves in the side pieces. So the next thing I did was put grooves in all the side pieces and made rabbets on the bottom pieces, which left the tongues to go into the grooves.
Font Rectangle Line Material property Parallel


The next job was to stain all the pieces:
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Tints and shades Hardwood


I glued just one side piece to the bottom piece, this would allow me (actually my husband) to wire up the lights easier than trying to do it with a completed beam.

Here you can see that the beam is just an L shape for now with the front (side piece) off. I screwed the back side piece into the 2Ă—2s. This way the wiring is inside and cut to the proper lengths for each of the four pot lights.
Wood Automotive exterior Shade Tints and shades Ceiling


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain Natural material


The pot lights were then wired in place and could be checked to see that they worked properly before sealing up the beam:
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Composite material Beam


The front side piece was then screwed in to the 2Ă—2s at the top (after this photo was taken I painted the screws a brown that left them pretty much invisible):
Brown Wood Rectangle Amber Wood stain


and also glued and clamped along the bottom:
Wood Stairs Hardwood Gas Flooring


Here's the finished dovetail, which I actually put more dark stain around so that the shape of the dovetail would show up better:
Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Building Wood Fixture Wood stain Floor

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


BEFORE:
Fixture Wood Shade Composite material Gas


AFTER:
Wood Building Wall Material property Composite material


Hope this gives you some ideas for your own ceiling beam.
i like it looks good nice job have good day
 

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