Wood Finishing Advice?
I’m nearing completion on my reno, and looking for advice on finishing the woodwork. Our halls have beautiful – if slightly worn – paneling and there are parquet floors throughout. He’s recommending satin poly for the walls and floors both; I’d like to suggest he do something more natural (oil finish?) on the paneling, but…
I’m nearing completion on my reno, and looking for advice on finishing the woodwork. Our halls have beautiful – if slightly worn – paneling and there are parquet floors throughout. He’s recommending satin poly for the walls and floors both; I’d like to suggest he do something more natural (oil finish?) on the paneling, but don’t have room in the budget for any more change orders. And is satin the best finish for the floors? Thoughts most appreciated. Happy new year!
Agree with Dave on the parquet. (I’m assuming it’s a hardwood such as oak.) If you were doing only satin finish, you should use four coats. So you might try one coat high gloss and three satin. You won’t really see the satin until you put on three coats. Be aware the high gloss will darken the floor slightly — but you probably want this. If you use only satin water based polyurethane on a hardwood floor such as oak, it will look like you didn’t finish them and the color will be very light.
As for the panelling, you cannot use poly on them unless you sand down to the bare wood first. But you wouldn’t want to use poly on them anyway. Maybe just clean them, figure out what is on there now — shellac or varnish?
I used shellac on molding/paneling, and poly on floors. Shellac is cheap and easily repairable, tho not water or alcohol resistent. I like the boiled linseed/wax suggestion, too. Another good, though expensive, choice for both is waterlox.
Thanks, Southslope (and Zara, too).
Just say not to poly, unless you like the look and feel of plastic. And satin poly, as mentioned above, contains flattening agents that will conceal the grain. BLO or tung oil would be good choices for an oil-based finish, but take note that BLO will significantly darken over time (which you may prefer). Tung oil is more expensive. Make sure you are using boiled linseed oil, not true linseed oil which will never dry. And if you go with tung oil, make sure you are actually applying true tung oil. There are hundreds of products labeled as tung oil which either contain no tung oil at all, or are oil/dye mixes, i.e., danish oil. For finish coats my preference is waterlox, pricey but worth it. What type of wood are we talking about? Many closed grain woods are prone to blotching, which would be highlighted by a pure oil finish.
Vinca,
It depends on which type of wood you have. If you have a cork floor, Osmo is great. It dosen’t wear so well on other floors. It is good for vertical surfaces (that you don’t walk on.)
I love tung oil, sutherland welles brand in particular. It takes a little more effort to apply it, but you have much more control over the tone (by adding dyes to the topcoats) and it penetrates the wood, hardening from within. It is very easy to re-apply and maintain, you don’t need any specialized tools-just a scotchbrite pad and a rag. Tung oil leaves the wood feeling like wood not plastic- therefore my fave.
The wall panels need something different. Consider this: two or three coats of boiled linseed oil. Let that settle for a few days, then apply a coat of wax, let that dry. apply another and let it dry a short while and rub it out. I think this would be closer to what was done to the wood a century ago (I can’t say they used shellac) and the linseed oil would help the wood.
I just reread your post. I can’t imagine putting poly on old panels.
Steve
http://www.thetinkerswagon.com
I just did this. What kind of wood floors do you have and what color do you want them to be? Also, I don’t understand your question about panelling. Obviously the panelling currently has some kind of finish already, and that will determine what you use. Or are you planning to sand them?
Southslope, I am curious about your thoughts on this: if you have floors that have not been refinished since the 70s, and still have what used to be a standard wax finish, would you opt for tung oil or Osmo if you were about to sand and refinish now? Or would you opt for poly?
What dave said.
The reason that the satin is softer is due to the addition of dulling agents (like fumed silica) which are invariably softer. Therefore gloss first, followed by satin or dull.
An oil finish will look more natural, but requires a lot of time to build (sutherlandwelles.com). Osmo is an oil/wax finish that will build in two or three coats on raw wood and feels nice to the touch. It is good for paneling (light wear surface) and is easy to maintain or repair.