Elm beam dilemma/help needed.

[astra25]

Hello all I've got a bit of a dilemma I'm currently undergoing a major refurbishment of the house I've bought and going to be living in when done.
I'm into milling and two years ago I collected a elm log cheap (£50) that had been sat for a few years in a log yard, I cut it down in length and took it home and milled it up making a beam and 2" boards. The issue is because the log was sat with one end exposed to the elements it has gone white and faded which I did notice at the time but didn't think much of it.
So iv come to take the beam out the stack, I've belt sanded it so I could see the grain as I need to cut it from 15" to 11.5" and wiped it down with water and the faded end just doesnt look right and I don't think I'm going to be happy with it.
It was supposed to be the mantle that gets put in the fireplace I'm going to build out of old handmade bricks with a log burner in etc which would be the main feature of the room.

So my options are do I use it and possibly not be happy with it in my forever home or try and source another log/beam?

So if anyone has a elm beam big enough would have to be 12" high 5.5/6" deep and 67" or 1.7m long.
Or I would travel and buy a log and bandsaw mill it myself into the right size and leave to dry as long as I can before building the fireplace, I  could put it off for possibly a year.
I've added pic so you can see what I mean and thankyou for reading it all if you got this far. Wayne.

[difflock]

Eh!, patina of age, natural beauty, etc etc etc, smoke it over a steaughy fire, for a olde-worlde fire-blackened look  before installing, and no odds.

Also wondering if treatment with a stain/oil would largely mitigate the difference, which depending on the orientation to the natural light, might not even be that noticable?

Nail on a few horse brasses to hide the transition perhaps?

Work with what you have got.

EDIT

Ah meant tay say, as all us men gotta larn to do!

Edited May 5, 2019 by difflock

[gobbypunk]

If you ain’t going to be happy with it don’t use it or you might always think why the f##k did I use that it would make an ace coffee table 

[astra25]

3 hours ago, difflock said:

Eh!, patina of age, natural beauty, etc etc etc, smoke it over a steaughy fire, for a olde-worlde fire-blackened look  before installing, and no odds.

Also wondering if treatment with a stain/oil would largely mitigate the difference, which depending on the orientation to the natural light, might not even be that noticable?

Nail on a few horse brasses to hide the transition perhaps?

Work with what you have got.

EDIT

Ah meant tay say, as all us men gotta larn to do!

I get what your saying but I could use any wood if a wanted to blacken it or hide it with horse shoes etc isn't the look I'm trying to go for lol.

[astra25]

5 minutes ago, gobbypunk said:

If you ain’t going to be happy with it don’t use it or you might always think why the f##k did I use that it would make an ace coffee table 

Your exactly right and yes it could be cut smaller in length and cut to 2" for a coffee table etc.

Trying to source a new log now ?

[gobbypunk]

Oh no don’t make it into 2 inch big chunky coffee table just cut off enough for 2 legs hidden casters so you can move it , big mortise and tenon joints it would be ace 

[CDMR]

Would it be worth skimming 5 or 10mm off the top to see if there is a bit more colour below?

 

Alternatively, could you bleach the other end to match the faded end?

[Ratman]

You insetting it in to brickwork as a load bearing mantle or just face fitting against wall for aesthetics?
I pondered the wood mantle route when i built mine, but decided it was too much hassle as i would struggle to fit one due to clearance / proximity of my flue in relation to beam regards regs / insurance etc. And finding one that was aesthetically spot on like you say was a challenge in itself.
I used an old stone gate post in the end and had it cut down, same for my hearth. Possibly another option for you.

[astra25]

2 hours ago, CDMR said:

Would it be worth skimming 5 or 10mm off the top to see if there is a bit more colour below?

 

Alternatively, could you bleach the other end to match the faded end?

I don't think it will be any different iv looked back at the pictures of when I milled it and it's the same thro out the log. Yeah staining might be a option if it would work good enough if I carnt source a replacement.

[astra25]

29 minutes ago, Ratman said:

You insetting it in to brickwork as a load bearing mantle or just face fitting against wall for aesthetics?
I pondered the wood mantle route when i built mine, but decided it was too much hassle as i would struggle to fit one due to clearance / proximity of my flue in relation to beam regards regs / insurance etc. And finding one that was aesthetically spot on like you say was a challenge in itself.
I used an old stone gate post in the end and had it cut down, same for my hearth. Possibly another option for you.

Yes it's going to be built into brickwork with bricks above it but it's not load bearing meaning no floor joist or fireplace upstairs sat on it etc. 

There's plenty of room in turms of flu etc and yeah iv thought about stone but the house is stone with stone lintels above the windows I just didn't want it too look the same as a external lintel and iv got elm boards to turn into furniture for the living room in the future.

That's what I'm kind of thinking anyways.

Edited May 6, 2019 by astra25