Escape Room Prop How-To

Watch us age a wooden bench for our Edison’s Lost Invention escape room adventure in Columbus, Ohio.

For our new Columbus, Ohio escape room adventure, we needed two work benches as part of the game’s set in order to tell our story. After some research into the best build for our benches that need to be heavy-duty and look like they’re from a 1920s laboratory, we constructed the frames completely out of new, 2x4 lumber.

---

 

Escape Room Prop How-to: Aging New Wood to Look Old and Worn

In the video compilation, below, we walk you through our process, step by step:

Video shows how to age wood for an escape room set.

---

 

Using a propane torch, we first burned the wood to reveal its grain. Then, we applied one coat of flat ceiling paint with a foam brush. Some light sanding with 60 grit sandpaper, finished the 3 easy step process.

 

 

We found the 3 step process to be quick, easy, and with less mess than if we had worked with a stain basecoat. All that is left to do is to add the tops to our benches, repeating the same process; however, we will also add a polyurethane clearcoat overtop to protect the surfaces.