What is meant by "old timber" (for collar beams)

[Metroid]

We have had a building consultant calculate what we can replace the current ceiling beams with in connection with the renovation of our upper floor. We want to open up to the ridge and have nicer beams since they will be visible.

The building consultant has recommended that the current beam can be replaced with "gammalt virke" 100 x 125 mm.
What is meant by "gammalt virke"? And where can you buy such a thing? And where do I find the dimensions?
Or is it easiest to order this from a lumberyard, so they solve my problem?

Are we talking about expensive materials?

 

[Liteavvarje]

Maybe dim on that, now it's 95X125, previously the timber was råsågat and was a bit rougher

 

[hus520]

The easiest is to ask the byggkonsult and update the thread with the answer

 

[AG A]

He likely means timber from a demolished/disassembled 19th-century house. Prices are generally quite low, unless you are searching in the big city.

 

[Metroid]

He probably means timber from a demolished/disassembled 19th-century house. Prices are usually quite low unless you're looking in the big city.

Where on earth do you find such timber?

 

[Finndjävel]

Where on earth do you find such timber?

In the countryside. From a farmer with their own sawmill.

 

[Mike_the_pip3]

I bought 80*120 lumber for my beams and support legs from the local sawmill (they produce a lot of moldings, panels, etc.) It was cheap!
I think I paid about 500kr for the material for 7 trusses (tie beam and support legs)
Nice with rough-sawn lumber

 

[Strontus]

In the countryside. At some farmer with their own sawmill.

Ah, so you're finding timber from an 1800s house at a farmer with their own sawmill?

 

[guggen]

I think he means real heartwood, like they used to use for support. Either old well-preserved or new from a sawmill. Can cost anything from as much as fast-grown to absurdly much. Depending on which sawmill you go to.

 

[justusandersson]

If it's a building consultant worth their salt, the only reasonable interpretation is that he is referring to old dimensions. In the past, 4x5 inches was equivalent to 100x125 mm, not 95x120 as it is today.

Kärnfur is a fantastic asset when it comes to resistance to rot, etc., but hardly when it comes to strength properties. Instead, it is more about density, parallelism, freedom from knots, and the like.

 

[guggen]

I don't know anyone who cuts down 200-year-old pine trees for beams and similar that are not densely grown

 

[justusandersson]

All truly old timber is superior to much of what exists today. The presence of knots, however, is independent of age. Core pine doesn't necessarily need to be dense. Personally, I have a stock of over 100-year-old sawn pine planks, densely grown and with a high core content, which I use for many things. But for the original poster's building consultant to use the expression "old" to refer to timber quality would, in my opinion, be quite unprofessional.

 

[guggen]

Lovely! I myself have had a small stock of old and new goodies. It's finished now, so I'm strongly considering getting a logosol for the forest.
I also think that the reference was to old-fashioned inch sizes.

 

[justusandersson]

If I had a Logosol, I would have sawed up a huge oak log that I have lying around and which no one has had the energy to lift and take to the sawmill...

 

[Bernieberg]

Yes, it would be kind of professional to add the option "gammalt virke" in addition to the existing strength classes