AMN Construction · Finish carpentry · Ceiling beams and coffered ceilings

Ceiling beams and coffers, laid out from the center.

Ceiling beams and coffers give a flat ceiling depth and order. We build hollow box beams, coffered grids and plank ceilings, lay them out from the center of the room, and fasten them to solid blocking above.

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In short

Most decorative beams are hollow boxes. They look solid, weigh little, and carry no load.
Layout starts at the center of the room, so the edges come out even on both sides.
A real timber beam goes up only where the structure allows and an engineer has approved it.

Ceiling beamUsually a hollow box built around blocking. It carries no load.
Crown moldingCovers the joint where wall meets ceiling. Its size should suit the ceiling height.

A room in elevation: box beams seen end-on at the ceiling.

Built by Tom. Fifty years of custom cabinets and finish carpentry, from Oregon and Hawaii to Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Westlake Village, and now from Goleta to Carpinteria. Meet the carpenter

What we do

What is included.

Box beams: three-sided hollow beams built around blocking (short pieces of framing lumber fixed to the ceiling).
Coffered ceilings: a grid of crossing beams with recessed panels between them.
Tongue-and-groove ceilings: boards that lock edge to edge, run across the ceiling or between beams.
Plank ceilings in painted or stained wood.
Real timber beams, set where the structure allows and an engineer has approved the plan.
Molding where beams meet the ceiling and walls, and openings cut for lights and vents.

How it goes

Step 1
You send photographs of the room, the ceiling height and rough dimensions, and tell us what you or your designer have in mind.
Step 2
We measure on site, find the joists (the framing above the ceiling), and mark the layout from the center of the room.
Step 3
Blocking is fastened to the framing, and any real timber waits for the engineer’s approval.
Step 4
Beams are built, lifted, scribed to the ceiling and walls, and fastened to the blocking.
Step 5
Joints are filled and sanded, then the work is painted or stained.

Yours to decide

Decide these first.

Hollow or solid. A box beam is lighter, straighter and easier to fasten. Solid timber has real cracks and grain, and needs a structure that can carry it.
Size and spacing. Beams that are too thin look stuck on. Beams that are too deep make an ordinary ceiling feel low.
Direction. Beams usually run across the short dimension of the room, as a structural beam would.
Paint or stain. Stained beams show every joint, so the long corners are mitered and the boards are chosen for grain.
Lighting. Recessed lights, fans and vents are placed with the grid, not after it.

How to tell good work

The grid is centered. The panels at opposite walls are the same width.
Beam bottoms are straight when you sight along them, even where the ceiling above dips.
The long corner joints on a box beam are closed, so the beam reads as one piece of wood.
Beams meet the walls and each other tightly, with no gaps packed with caulk.
Nothing moves or rattles when you push on a beam.

What moves the price

The number of beams, and the number of crossings in a coffered grid. Each crossing is fitted by hand.
Paint or stain. Stain-grade wood costs more in both material and time.
Ceiling height and access. High or sloped ceilings need scaffolding.
Moving lights, vents or wiring to suit the layout.

Prices vary with the materials and the hours a job takes. Each job is custom and unique, so we price it once we have seen the room.

Our work

Ceiling beams and coffered ceilings, built and fitted.

Santa Barbara South Coast

Woodwork through a Spanish-style house

Tom built the woodwork through this house above the ocean: beams and plank ceilings, arched doors and windows, the kitchen cabinets, the mantels and the bath vanity. One hand in every room, which is why it reads as one house.

Ceiling beams and coffered ceilings · Door installation · Custom cabinetry

A living room with exposed wood beams, a plank ceiling, a wood mantel and arched wood-framed glass doors open to an ocean terrace — Beams, plank ceiling and arched doors to the terrace

A kitchen with stained wood frame-and-panel cabinets, wood-cased windows and a marble island — The kitchen

Tall wood-framed glass doors standing open between a beamed living room and a tiled terrace — Doors open to the terrace

A dining room with exposed beams, a wood mantel shelf and wood-framed glass doors facing the ocean — The dining room: beams, mantel and doors

Exposed wood beams and a plank ceiling above white plaster walls with arched openings — The beamed ceiling

A wood vanity with drawers and doors under a tiled counter with two basins, and wood-framed mirrors above — The bath vanity

Santa Barbara South Coast · 1992

A synagogue ceiling for a Los Angeles museum

In 1992 Tom helped install “From Exile to Redemption” at the Martyrs Memorial and Museum of the Holocaust in Los Angeles: the museum’s model of a 17th-century Polish wooden synagogue ceiling, designed and painted by the artist Joanne Abensour. The museum’s newsletter pictured the installation.

Ceiling beams and coffered ceilings

A richly painted wood ceiling of angled panels in red, blue and gold with Hebrew lettering — The ceiling, installed

All finish carpentry projects

Questions

Ceiling beams and coffered ceilings: what owners ask.

Are decorative ceiling beams structural?

No. A decorative beam is a hollow box fastened to blocking on the ceiling. It carries no load and holds nothing up, which is why it can go almost anywhere. A beam that does carry load is a structural matter, and it needs an engineer before anyone builds it.

Can you add beams to a room with an ordinary flat ceiling?

Yes, if the beams are kept shallow. A deep beam on a low ceiling makes the room feel lower. A shallow, wider beam gives the same pattern without the weight. We can hold a sample section up in the room, so you see the depth before anything is built.

What is a coffered ceiling?

A coffered ceiling is a grid of beams crossing at right angles, with recessed panels between them. The beams are usually hollow boxes trimmed with molding. The pattern is laid out from the center of the room, so the panels along opposite walls come out equal.

Can real wood beams be installed in an existing Santa Barbara house?

Sometimes. Solid timber is heavy, and the ceiling framing has to be able to carry it. An engineer decides that, not the carpenter. Where the structure allows and the engineer has approved it, we set real timber. Where it does not, a box beam gives the same look without the weight.

Where we do this

Built in our small boutique shop in Carpinteria where the piece is custom, and fitted on site in:

Carpinteria Summerland Montecito Santa Barbara Hope Ranch Goleta

All finish carpentry · see the projects

Inquiries

Have a room in mind? Send us the photographs.

Email photographs of the room and rough measurements to purchasing@amnbuild.com. Matt reads it himself. No forms.

Email Matt the photographs Or call Matt · 805 886 0988