Interior woodwork stain and finish
I used to love McCloskey’s Tung-Seal pigmented stains. I think the only product they gave now in Man-O-War spar varnish I wouldn’t use spar varnish on indoor surfaces.
markwalker
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
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markwalker | 3 years and 2 months ago
Good morning! My “homework” this weekend is to choose a wood stain product for interior woodwork. It is all new wood (white oak) . There are doors, jambs, casings, window mullions etc. I am relatively unfamiliar with the current products, though in the past I’ve done quite a bit of refinishing.
My preference is to find a good wipe-on stain with pigment rather than dye alone, as it won’t fade much and it would be easier to control the color./disguise light colored spring growth areas. I guess I will need a conditioner or sealer as well.
As a final qualification I am aiming for a not- so-new-wood effect. I have noticed the Bona products lack depth and are a bit artificial looking.
I would love to hear about your experiences.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
Steve (AKA Doors By….) will laugh at me, but I’ve had good results with Minwax stain followed by their Antique Oil Finisn.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
so. mohawk products are what i use. i do believe the product number for what we use is 545-. that should be the wiping wood stain. by far, that is the easiest and most forgiving stain to apply. some of these other stains, water base products and some oils, if you are not very careful on your spread or how long you leave it or overlap, you might get darker spots. i switched to mohawk so long ago, that i do not recall what it used to be like to have to deal with those issues.
oak is one of the easier woods to stain and it takes stain readily. just make sure whatever grit you finish sanding with (and new milled wood will need some sanding, you stop at the same grit throughout. if i were doing this, i might run a straight line sander over it with 120 grit paper on it and in the direction of the grain. you are working inside so you might be able to go to 150. we stop at 120 for mechanical bond on exterior. if you sand something that has been sanded to say 150 with 120, it will open the grain and take more stain and you will end up with a dark spot wh ere the tight grain is (the loose grain will already go darker on its own). also, you say you did refinishing so you may not have encountered this, but new wood from the mill will always have some “burn marks” in it from the machine – those have to be sanded out; that is why we sand newly formed wood.
with oak, you should not have to use a dye stain under the oil base as the oak will accept the stain readily. do not over sand, to 220. keep it at 120 or 150.
bona products, which people seem to like on here, are for home depot customers. Of course, using old fashioned oil base poly might be the way to go, but with oil or water base, what you want to do is build with a gloss first. it could even be a cheaper floor finish like absco. put two coats of gloss on and then move to what you wish to finish with. it will build coats faster than semi or satin. lightly sand after the SECOND coat on stained wood (with 220) just to remove any grain pop from the finish (you don’t want to sand through the finish into the stain). tack and coat with the finish you want to end up with (satin or semi). follow the directions on the label: some will say recoat 2 or so hours and 2 coats in a day and sand anything that has sat xx amount of time between coats (say if it sat overnight; they will want you to use 220 to abrade the surface).
for what you are doing, you do not need any of the pricey products like basic coatings street shoe (which i have touted on here). maybe talk to a floor finish supplier (PC floors or the guy outside of lowe’s front gate, NY flooring).
some of the floor finishes now have an amber tint in them to make the finish look like oil. plain old water base poly goes on water clear. we often tint it. if you have variations between different pieces of wood, you can always buy tints and recoat the lighter ones with tint in the finish for say that piece of wood. don’t over tint or it will look painted (don’t use too much tint in a cup of finish).
you can always apply wax to something that has been finished and rub that out. that might really build some depth. check and see what wax products abott paint has.
mohawk products are available at Gleasons in Woodside and Abbot on Eagle and they have another location in sunset park. the bigger abbot, the main store is Eagle st.
unless you decide you want to go with something like varathane (and by the way, the varathane, that was one of the first water base polyurethane products on the market, i gave them a whirl in the 1990’s and have used them occasionally since) or a simple minwax oil poly, do not go to HD or lowes for anything and do not ask their staff about any finishing products. the way to know if someone in an orange apron is bs’ing you is if his lips are moving.
as a rule we stay away from Minwax products now. i had an issue with a brand new can of their oil poly years ago and left and that was it.
a word on abbott paint. they let charlie Hoey go about two years ago now. that guy knew everything there was to know about stains and finishes. (he called a wax manufacturer in front of me and put him on speaker phone so we could pepper them with some questions about an issue i had). he read everything and he talked to the manufacturers and if you asked him a question, he would ask you 5 more about your situation to find out what you really needed. if you go in there now, you best be versed on the products they carry. i would stop in, look at the shelves and get names (or look at their website, they have a photo of their product line) and read. the guy they have their now knows nothing and will not move his fingers to the phone to call a supplier nor will he read anything – no motivation. he is simply a cashier and he sold me something that did not tell on the can what base it was and told me “he thought it was a certain base” and it was not (if charlie had not known, he would have admitted it and called the manufacturer). the new guy uses phrases like “i think”. that is no good in wood finishing; you have to know.
In short this can be simple. oil base stain, water base top coat. follow application directions. yes, there are a lot of new products out there and you will see them at Abbott paint but unless you are doing something unique, none of that may matter. explore if you like and check out what abbot has but do your own research. many of the newer products are for special situations (floors and oils for an oiled look).
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
bob, i like the look you are talking about as well – in the correct situation. but OP mentioned “build” and that is why i did not address oils (not hardening oils like oil poly but oils that soak and dry satin).
op, if you want oils, abbot has all of those as well, i think. we use less of them so are less familiar with them. i used to use them on interiors and now we use linseed cut with spirits on dried exterior wood before priming. some oils do build and dry – i forget which one. i do not think it is tung. linseed will darken wood but you can cut it with spirits and then use it straight and wax over it but all that sounds like is a lot of work.
water base poly over mohawk stain will be easiest to apply and easiest to maintain.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
FWIW Minwax Antique Oil Finish alone produces what I think are beautiful results on oak. The stuff is somewhat hard to find. I don’t think it’s allowed in California and many stores don’t carry it. I think I’ve seen it at Leopoldi’s and it’s sold on Amazon. The stuff is toxic, so if you use it wear gloves and have a vent fan running. I think I must have lost some brain cells using it to refinish furniture without gloves 50 years ago.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
BTW, if you want processional results go with Steve’s recommendations. I’m a lazy amateur, although I think I do OK.:-)
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
the results you speak of bob can look very professional. i did the stairs in my house using your process and like materials though now i might wax it (too late for poly over the oils). neither approach is more or less professional; op’s operative word was “build” and that was why i spent time on that-.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
someone like John Thomas can probably expand on a lot of this.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
i should have said stair “balustrade” in a post above. these oils would not protect steps and they would wear as a result.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
Steve—RE: refreshing an oiled finish, I’ve found that Howard’s Reatore-A-Finish is even more effective than wax.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
The Howard’s product can be following a coat of wax. Their brand is good, but no better than other good waxes.
markwalker | 3 years and 2 months ago
Wow !!! thanks for all of your advice . I used to love a product called McCloskey’s Tung-Seal. The colors were beautiful. I have not seen it in at least 30 years. I have used Minwax in the past too, but formulas can change. I will get some sample cans of the products you recommended and play with them.
It is going on doors, door and window jambs and casings, not anything that where wear would be a concern.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
the minwax has probably always been garbage. its what my mother used when i was a child in the 1970’s. even back then there were other products.