I don't know if you're still checking this thread, but if you haven't yet made a decision, you might want to look at Waterlox. I think you can apply it over linseed oil, but you might want to check with the manufacturer -- they're great about answering questions if you give them a call. (No affiliation. I used Waterlox on my floor and ended up making several phone calls.) You might also check with them as to whether the usual horse-related chemical aerosols (fly spray, ShowSheen, clipper lube, etc.) will ruin the finish. BTW, I love the "Barn McMansion" term. LOL And is this the subk from COTH? I've been in tons of barns over the years and I think most of them were either raw wood with natural "patina" (patina = all sorts of stuff accumulated on the wood after years of horse occupation) or whitewash. But I'll bet your white oak would look fantastic with a finish that would accentuate the grain. Lorree

You wrote: "the ones going across the old ceiling (vs. yanking them out), " What you wrote stood my hair on end! It is very likely you can not remove the horizontal timbers without your house's structure being compromised. Those beams are most likely doing a whole lot more than just supporting the ceiling and the attic floor. They are connecting the sides of your house. Before you even think of this, please hire an architect or structural engineer to assess it. Given the age of your house (1840) and location it seems highly likely your house is a timberframe structure. Those horizontal beams are ESSENTIAL in timberframe houses! The lower ceilings in older houses are one the characteristics of the style. You can expose the beams, but not remove them. After they are exposed you could cover them, but it would be a lot of work. In buildings the age of yours they might be hand hewn, and attractive, but rough. Many people find the old timber look very appealing as they shown the hand-made nature of the structure. The other issue is that once you have a room with such a tall ceiling (going up to the roof rafters) you will kake it very hard to keep warm at "ground level" as all your heated air will go up, far above your head. Even with good roof insulation (can be done, but does present some other technical issues) keeping warm downstairs will be a challenge, unless you have something like radiant heat in the floor. When the house was built, and every bit of heat was from logs cut, hauled, split, stacked and loaded, by the occupants they knew that lower ceilings were warmer than soaring spaces. MOlly

"The page below has a lot of info about powderpost beetles, boracare and other products. It will definitely help. " Only if you want to soak the entire timber in Boracare, then deal with trying to dry it out using a hot box or a LONG time. One year per inch of wood thickness is used for green wood to air-dry. After Boracare treating the timber ("penetrates up to 2 inches) it would not be as wet as green wood, but it would still take significant time to dry, and likely experience checking and splitting from the differential expansion. Or you can just heat it up and kill the beetles (as is done when kiln drying wood). Exterminators love using pesticides. When all you own is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Thanks everyone! Yes, it is a majestic place. We regularly see elk outside in the field, but I have only seen them a couple times. DH sees them often when he is working down there. I'm excited to be there and able to glance out the window at them casually. And I was just in Houston last month and after living here for a year and out of the "city" I was amazed how hard it was for me to adjust. I felt like I was in an alternate universe filled with concrete and cars and mean people. It was nice to enjoy the city amenities for a few days but when I stepped out of the airport in Montana I breathed a sigh of relief:) Hopefully I'll have a truly finished kitchen post in 2 weeks or so if anyone is interested in seeing the final product. I'll be sure to post details and show cabinet features. Our cabinet guy was just fantastic! We used a big box company for our house and this guy for the barn was a fraction of the cost and the quality was 10X better!