Paint or Stain?
So we have spent the money… ~$2000 to have the many layers of paint stripped off of all the woodwork, doors, fretwork, etc. (done off-site by paint strippers) and now we have a choice to make. PAINT OR STAIN! And to be even more specific, CLEAR or VERY light colored Stain, or paint (probably white)…
So we have spent the money… ~$2000 to have the many layers of paint stripped off of all the woodwork, doors, fretwork, etc. (done off-site by paint strippers) and now we have a choice to make. PAINT OR STAIN!
And to be even more specific, CLEAR or VERY light colored Stain, or paint (probably white) We had hoped to clear coat it, but as you can see in these photos: Wetted to show what a clear coat would look like.
That this is poplar and not very clean looking. Dark streaks and patches.
I am ok with some variation, but has anyone done this? Just left the wood in its natural state? I can say that the windows were originally varnished? a dark/medium brown and the fretwork/baseboards seems to have always been painted.
The doors open right next to each other and they are very very different looking doors. We are still glad we stripped the wood, but we don’t want a dark room, so a dark or medium stain kind of defeats the purpose. We are looking for a modern “bright†space. So do we embrace the wild colors, or just go high gloss white? (We did high gloss white in another room and it looks great… but not the same as exposed wood)
Anyone got photos to share? Or thoughts? (I am sure y’all got plenty of those!)
maybe you can try tung oil-ing a test piece of poplar? I’m not sure it can be removed. I think they say mineral spirits for clean up but it sort of soaks into wood.
We just used tung oil on our floors and some of the extra on a cheap pine bookshelf and it’s a lovely finish but does darken the wood a bit. The bookshelf was really transformed by it but it’s definitely darker and richer looking since we oiled it.
I learned a trick from an interior decorator friend once, paint your bright sunlit rooms in a light color, and paint darker rooms with darker paints. In other words, don’t fight nature, but enhance with what you have…. might be something to think about depending on the light and look of your place.
OP here…
Again, we want the wood to be as light in color as possible, so we’re not going to stain the light parts, or take the time to create a faux look.
It is what it is…. And maybe we’ll do a test with tung oil. (HOW do we remove it if we decided its not right?)
and as for cost here’s a breakdown of what we had done
Moldings for (3) windows, (2) verticals each + header
(2) 1-panel doors (flat rate $200 each)
Complete Fretwork arch:
(4) vertical moldings (L&R front, L&R Back)
(2) Headers (front & back)
(1) Fretwork Arch
(2) Columns
(2) Column/shelf bases
Again, this was all removed and done offsite.
Park Slope Paint Strippers Quoted the fretwork only at $2,400 on site, $800 offsite, pick up & Delivery included, tax additional.
Since we are having the walls re-plastered, it made sense to have it done offsite.
You can get a quote for work by sending them detailed photos and dimensions of what needs to be done.
Dean is very nice.
Note that we broke one of the column capitals, but dean stripped the pieces anyway and we’re going to try and reglue it. They are made out of some kind of sawdust plaster mixture, not wood, so they won’t take stain.
It is very apparent that this was not designed to be stained.
I’ll try to remember to post photos when we get furhter along.
That’s right, the dining room on the first floor is stained oak, the hall throughout all three floors is stained mahogany, the parlor floor is stained mahogany, the upper rental floor was stained oak on most if not all the interior rooms. Kitchens were also stained dark, guess that was mahogany also? Looks like fir.
OP, who did your stripping? I’m shocked it would cost only about $2,000. Was this for the whole house or just one room? Thanks so much.
My understanding was that a lot of poplar was also originally painted. I once read that the dining room would be stained oak, the parlor stained mahogany, and the upper floors painted poplar or pine. We just did a gut reno / restoration in our house and didn’t go through the effort / cost of stripping the wood in the parlor and are very happy with it painted. One side of our shutters is stained, and it seems like the room would be very dark if all the molding were this color, whereas now we it’s pale gray with white trim. I do wish we could have afforded the time or money to take off the layers of paint as you’ve done, though – it looks a little sloppy to my eye. Just hoping it’s one of those things most guests don’t notice. And Mr. B – I like the idea of a gallery!
I stripped all my poplar woodwork as left it natural rubbing in only tung oil for protection. The tung oil darkens it slightly and gives it a richer look. It all looks great, even with some uneveness here and there. IMO, don’t paint or stain. And this is the lowest maintenance of all.
Just FYI, it’s likely the original finish was a semi-translucent faux graining to look like oak or mahogany. That’s how the pine and poplar woodwork was treated in our house, an 1880s/1890s Victorian. If you search around, you can find a recipe for it. It’s not difficult to do. Looks very nice IMHO, like the real thing (except you see the occasional freak pine knot in the middle of the mahogany).
Using shallac as the first coat under paint works (I know from experience stripping paint in my house–the stuff that was shellaced as the first coat is much easier to strip) but it’s still not easy. But the shellac will keep the paint out of the pores of the wood.
OP here, Thanks for all the thoughts.
I agree with all of you so far!
How can that be?
I want to have the rich beautiful wood, I don’t want the darkish interior.
We even discussed – don’t shreak in horror, we’re not doing it – a white wash stain…. so the grain shows, but its light in color. But Nantucket we’re not… so fear not that won’t happen!
I like the idea of using a shellac under…
Anyone have photos they want to share?
Its hard to do a google image search for this type of research and find anything that relates.
I really think that is the next step for brownstoner.
Become an IMAGE resource of finished spaces. Some kind of gallery – or maybe a place to link to other peoples photos. This way it helps us make choices. (just an idea)
OK — I’m going to go slightly against the grain (no pun intended!) here. My husband has a wood fetish, but I think it makes our place look really dark. We painfully stripped much of our wood trim, and then repainted some of it (yes, I realize some people think that is sacrilegious). It was paint grade wood anyways.
However, our compromise was to apply a few layers of shellac on the bare wood before painting it. It makes re-stripping much much easier, if you change your mind and want to go naked with your wood later on.