I hate to post this this question but I’m looking for a supplier of fake logs. I’m currently building and addition and the customer wants log king trusses installed on the ceiling. Because of where we are in the constuction process I feel its to late to install real log trusses (roof is all ready on). I’ve seen them but can’t seem to locate a supplier. Any help would be appreciated.
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Go timber for the truss, and then find a log-nician and get him to add slabs of logs, I've seen it done, fairly acceptably.
I'm wondering what is holding the roof up.
Apparantly this is not only fake logs but fake trusses too. Are they paying you with fake money? and must you flasify gratitude for the work? or are you working there under false pretenses?
sorry, couldn't resist
Excellence is its own reward!
You may want to try this link.
http://www.pcfoam.com/interior1a.htm
Gabe
Excellent resource link Gabe. Being skilled at sculptural arts and with fiberglass fabricaton we've built our own custom timbers and trees for exhibition and display work (making a tree is easy, it's the bark thats tough) but that's a very expensive propostition for the client. Those look great.
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Hi Jerrald,
When you say that you are skilled in skulptural arts is this just your artistic side or your full time career? I gotta learn more about fiberglass fabrication for one of my pet projects.
I realize that you're at the opposite end of NY State but have you ever gone to Ogdensburg NY and visited the Remington Museum? Been there a dozen times and still find his work inspiring.
Stay safe
Gabe
Our emphasis in sculptural arts came from my background and training. I went to college for theatre design and technology while also learning painting and sculpture. I took one fantastic class in mold making and non-metal casting and that and my stagecraft classes was where I was first introduced to fiberglass. It wasn't until I took on a few projects saying sure I can do fiberglass work however that I really learned the tricks of the trade and a lot of the techniques we now use to achieve certain effects are really the results and by-products of screw ups from years ago. For small projects the basics of fiberglassing aren't hard at all though and I found the best book on glassing techniques came from the boating industry (go figure). It when things start to get really big and you start needing special equipment that things get tough to figure out and find. We built stuff like trees (palms, oak, birch, and even cacti), a tail section of an airplane once for a trade show exhibit, a "wave" for a themed restaurant and lot and lots of fake but geologically correct looking rocks and cliffs and no we haven't done anything for any Rain Forest Cafes (everyone asks).
The techniques I picked up doing theatre also comes in really handy for architectural plaster wood and metalwork replacement and repairs. The sculpture training and back ground comes in really handy when making some of the real tricky custom wreath turn stair parts we sometimes make like this.
No I've never been to Ogdensburg but I do admire Remington's work and used to see it appear in galleries from time to time in NYC as well as out here in Westchester. I'm a big fan of Hudson River School and good western landscapes. Do you know Thomas Moran? He's great for painting inspiring images of the west too although more of natural than human subjects. He painted a lot of Yellowstone. How about Albert Bierstadt for Yosemite? There's a painting I've been working on and off on for years based on one of his works which I just can't ever seem to get the guts to work on and finish.
Outside of the Frick Collection on 5th Avenue the museum I've been to probably the most is the Brandywine River Museum for Andrew Wyeth and NC Wyeth down in Chadds Ford, PA since that's where a whole bunch of my cousins live. Love them too especially Andrew. When I was just out of college I used to take my lunch breaks going to the Frick and aside from the art in the place the architecture is off the map gorgeous. It was seeing an exhibit there that featured the woodworking artisan that did the work in that building that I got really interested in architectural woodworking and carving. Also on a more recent visit down to see my cousins I went to Winterthur, the old Henry Francis du Pont estate, which is a leading museum collection for American decorative arts. That's a very kool place for a person like me.
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I've done a lot of "retrofits" with logs and timbers; converting traditional finishes to a more hand-hewn environment desired by customers. It's not particularly difficult....just takes a little forethought, a source of the raw material and a little ingenuity at times to get good fits.
I've done "fake" timber frames and fake log finishes that look like the real thing. They're kind of a challenge, but when done properly can actually add strength to the structure.
The attached pic is a set of king post trusses I did several years ago. All the pinnings and the mortise and tenons are real. The logs are hand peeled Port-Orford Cedar poles and are set onto trimmer studs buried behind the drywall (some whacking of the wall finish was necessary).
The roof was scissor trusses and the log trusses were jacked tight to the underside of the cedar plank finish and secured with deck screws which were recessed and the holes plugged.
Doing this work yourself could help create a niche for you....an enjoyeable niche!
email me off my profile if you want more examples and particulars.
Get ahold of somebody at Ryan Homes--they've been installing fake foam timbers and logs onto fake stucco ceilings in the dens of their fake colonials for over thirty years that I know of. This combination really blends well with the fake fireplace with the fake ceramic logs and the fake antique brick stick-on tiles they use to cover the plywood hearth and mantle....
You don't believe me? I'll ask my mother to send me a pic of her ceiling, argghhh the shame of it!!!
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I like your style. Anything to keep the customer happy - it might be just what I'm looking for. I've got one question. Where is Ryan Homes located? I'm in Minnesota.
I know they operate in Ohio and Pennsylvania. I think they operate all over the U.S., but I'm not sure. They're huge; I'd be surprised if they don't have a website. Try Ryan Homes or Ryan Builders and see what Google turns up. They've been in business since at least the mid sixties. My parents bought one from them in 64 in Ohio, and then another in Penna. in 71 or 72, I think. They specialize in big suburban fake colonials; the developments all have brick 'gateways' with the name of the development on it; etc., etc., you get the picture.
The fake beams in my mother's place are made of sculpted styrofoam painted dark brown. They are supposed to look like hand-adzed timbers. Not exactly a Colonial detail, either, now that I think of it....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?