Natural finish on trim/shutters

We have had our shutters and wood trim stripped. We are happy with the natural look. I am wondering though over time if the wood will discolor from oxidization or dirt. Should they be finished in order to preserver them? Anyone have any recommendations on how to finish them? We were thinking of using a wood oil.

greenstuy

in Wood Restoration 9 years and 5 months ago

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thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 5 months ago

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yes, good point Neogrec. any oils. well, really any finishes should be applied in thin coats. but oils, I put them on and wait a little while – like 5 minutes or less, and then take them off. if you put it on and let it sit, it gums. Charlie at abbott is a great help with this and whilst people on here may think I know a couple of things, I still bounce ideas and questions off of him. btw, we sometimes wax over oils. not sure that would be the easy thing to do on shutters. Steve

NeoGrec | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Both Watco and Waterlox cure to a nice hard, dry surface. But don’t over-apply (go coat by coat) or the wood will struggle to dry properly!

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 5 months ago

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some folks are alluding to the oils and as a contractor I do not like to put my opinion in in so far as the appearance of things, but the oil finish looks quite sharp on oak. now look at what rick says, about folks not reapplying later, because it has to be done regularly. there are a host of oils still on the market. I generally stay away from minwax product but their oil is probably no different from the others. It is still available. it may be just like some of the Watco products; many of these are teak or linseed oils mixed with some turps or spirits and japan drier and maybe some dye. linseed oil alone will work but it will darken the wood. there is also teak oil. I was not sure what to think on UV protection because most of the finishes I use have UV protection, so I went ahead and read a little about this and most of the oils afford none. I did come across the name of the OSMO finish which does offer protection and I have seen used on floors. it is the oil look – that look of something which soaks into the wood as opposed to sitting on top of it. If I were doing a job like this and wanted to talk about options, I would go to Charlie at Abbott Paint on Eagle Street (tell him “stetson” sent you). Abbott carries all of the products that your corner paint store will not tell you exist (Abbott is not really a paint store but a wood finishing store). They have quite a few oils – also, I just thought of another product I have here: Waterlox Marine Oil Finsih. it soaks in but if built it will produce gloss. it has UV protection. It is a Tung Oil finish. I do not know a lot about it though, we got it for a job and never used it. Abbot may carry waterlox. and now that I think of it, I have 10 gallons of a product called Penofin here. it is an exterior deck finish. On these exterior products, toxicity should be checked, but if they are ok to use inside, why not? (initial odor may be a problem) I am not sure how toxic they would be as one assumes children walk on a deck. Penofin offers UV. I have two five gallon cans and they are pricey; they could be for sale here at a discount as I cannot store too much stuff as we rent our storage space. if they were open I would give you a quart to try but they are sealed. Steve

BobMarvin | 9 years and 5 months ago

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When we had our ground floor woodwork stripped almost 40 years ago I finished the dining room oak and the hallway pine with Minwax “Antique Oil Finish”. This darkened the wood somewhat, but hasn’t had to be re-done in all that time. I’ve also finished a lot of stripped furniture (going back as far as 1970) with this stuff, and it;s held up very well. Antique oil Finish is VERY hard to find now. A salesman at one local hardware store told me that it was banned because of environmental regulations, but this isn’t true. I think I’ve seen it at Tarzian, on 7th Avenue and I’ve bought it recently from Amazon (to match some new woodwork in my kitchen to wood I stripped >40 years ago).

slopegirl | 9 years and 5 months ago

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when we did our floors the folks at Green Depot were pretty helpful.

slopegirl | 9 years and 5 months ago

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My friends dad renovated his brownstone 30+ years ago using cherry and left all the wood unfinished. It looks amazing and has not developed problems over the years. It has been oiled but not much. I hate the look of polyurethane myself and we did our floors with a tung oil finish and then occasional wax. You might be able to get away with an oil finish for your shutters but might depend on your wood species and the UV factor could be a big deal since they’re in the windows.

hancockone | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Yes, they should be sealed. The raw wood will discolor and handling them will leave darker oil marks. If you want to keep them the natural color you could seal them with clear polyurethane or seal them with white (clear) shellac. Any oil or oil stain will darken the wood.

Arkady | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Putting a finish on also makes them easier to clean.

Rick | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I would oil stain and varnish the shutters to match the woodwork you have.The sun can fade the wood too. You may want to use a satin spar varnish that has UV protection. Wood oil finishes dry out over time. I have had clients that love a tung oil finish but rarely ever reapply later on. I say, do it once and be done.