Saving the beam without replacing it: the art of structural consolidation

Structural restoration techniques for wood that restore mechanical strength and durability without replacing the original piece.

• Filled epoxy resin injection (with glass micro-spheres or wood flour) in galleries and emptied parts.
• Wooden prosthetics of new same-species wood, glued with resins and fixed with bars.
• Wooden beton-plaque: structural wood slab (LVL or laminated) fixed on beam's upper side to recover bending strength.
• Tie-rods with fibreglass or stainless-steel bars when shear strength recovery is needed.

• UNI EN 1995-1-1 (Eurocode 5) – timber structure design.
• UNI 11161:2018 – ancient structural wood.
• Italian NTC 2018 – Technical Standards for Construction.
• Ministerial Circ. 21/01/2019 no. 7 – NTC application instructions.

Intervention always coordinated with qualified structural engineer who signs the project and post-intervention static fitness declaration.

Historic homes with severely compromised exposed beams.
Agritourism and B&Bs in rural buildings with damaged wooden floors.
Listed historic buildings (Superintendency explicitly requires not to replace but to consolidate).
Restoration sites where original material integrity is a priority.

Not suitable for beams with > 60% section loss (in that case evaluate replacement).

Phase 1 – Structural diagnosis with engineer: visual inspection, Resistograph probing, core sampling if needed, residual load capacity calculation.
Phase 2 – Curative treatment (anoxia, microwave or injections) to stop biological activity.
Phase 3 – Consolidation: technique choice (resin, prosthetic, beton-plaque, tie-rods) based on static calculations.
Phase 4 – Post-intervention check with load tests if requested by site director.
Phase 5 – Final documentation: technical report, static calculations, static fitness declaration signed by engineer.

Typical timeframe: 3-8 weeks of construction for a 50-100 m² floor.