[9] Once satisfied, eschew the power tool for a sanding block with 220-grit sandpaper. Sanding? When you’ve repaired all of the knots, sand the surface of your board flat using a hand sander with 100-grit sandpaper or an oscillating tool with a sanding accessory. Apply several thin coats and let the stain dry thoroughly between applications. Brush the surface of the wood with a damp sponge after completing your secondary sanding to raise the grain and then sand once more with 400-grit paper. 5. Cont. When dealing with a light tint, wipe off any excess stain. Apply two coats of stain (allowing each layer to dry completely). Sand lightly between coats with 400-grit sandpaper. Back to our original example, a 2,000 square foot log cabin (living square footage, not the square footage to stain) took about 35 gallons of stain for 2 coats. This may be hard if you use the table. It limits the dye’s penetration by partially sealing the wood, like a thin coat of finish. Apply two coats of 2-lb. Lightly sand the entire surface of the wood with 320- or 400-grit sandpaper­, just enough to break the sheen and smooth out any high spots. Pine wood panelling is making a comeback in interior design. I can guarantee it will become your favorite stain for pine! 4. We built these tables out of pine which has a tendency to take stain unevenly … Wipe down your project to remove dust and get ready to stain. Start with a coarse square (around 100-grit) and go over the pine using a wide, looping circular motion. agree with Albany chris, use a soft wood sealer then stain. In days gone by, we tended to finish stained pieces with shellac. Play it safe and apply a coat of Minwax® Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner to any wood you are about to stain. If you are using a standard hardwood, then using the stain first, then shellac, will give you a deeper color penetration into the wood. She used many coats of sealer on the top that is labor intensive. How to Cut Extreme Angles on Your Miter Saw, Builder’s Advocate: An Interview With Viewrail, Podcast 280: PRO TALK With Brooke Cambridge, Plus, get an extra 20% off with code GIFT20. Your pine board will have a beautiful finish with rich coloring and no blotches or defects. Great technique It’s all a solid beautiful medium brown and it’s not opaque or streaky like water based gel stains. Use the proper product which is readily available. • Substitute a glaze or gel stain for the liquid stain. Hi Jenny – She did a fabulous job. When my father built us a baby cradle, he insisted that the way “the pro’s” do a nice finish is to stain the wood (Maple in this case), follow with however many coats of poly you like, then apply a coat of wax over the poly and buff it in with an electric buffer … Immediately wipe it off with a dry cloth. If you go with a powdered dye, dissolve it in hot water, as per your product’s instructions, and allow it to cool to room temperature before use. Do You Mix Stain or Paint With Glaze for Antiquing? Brush on a thin layer of glaze and wipe it off with a clean rag. Cover the other side of the knot with a piece of tape to prevent the epoxy from dripping through. It gets hot here in Nola. Leave your Minwax stain to penetrate for around 5 to 15 minutes. So inspect your stain after about 2 years and consider adding another 2 coats. If you are pleased with the color, you can stop here; if you want a darker finish, apply a coat of glaze. If the stain begins to dry before you wipe it off, you're tackling too much area; this is more likely to happen using water-based stain. Apply three or four coats of wipe-on poly, straight from the can, and you should be all set. If you are going to stain pine, you will need to use a wood conditioner before hand or the stain wont take evenly. Work in manageable areas. Check the can for recommended drying time between coats. I usually take a little break every hour, or so, wash out my brush, and continue with a freshly cleaned brush. 3. Never allow any stain to dry on the wood surface—it will prevent the clear finish from adhering and cause other issues. To Begin . 1. Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox. Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers. The longer you leave it to penetrate the wood, the deeper it will go. Let the first coat … If staining pressure treated fence posts , deck rails or other … The stain should take around half-an-hour to dry, following which you can flip the door and stain the other side. Nowadays, most folks prefer polyurethane. Then rub on some wax if you like. Continue staining the wood, rubbing down the wood between coats with 0000 steel wool, until you've gotten the stain to the color you like it. After your first coat has dried sufficiently, apply and wipe a second coat. 2. • Apply a second coat of stain after the first has dried fully. Brush the dye evenly on to the surface of your work piece and allow it to seep in for a few minutes. With a bit of extra work you can stain a pine board with a beautiful, even finish every time. With pine, this is not the case. Semi-transparent. Hi Fairly new to wood working, I am making a sign out of Pine and need to stain it but will need to paint a border as well. See All Exterior Stain Products Buy Wood Stain … A gel stain was chosen for the shelf case shown. Pine is one wood that tends to absorb stains unevenly, but achieving even coloring when staining pine is easy to accomplish with a few simple steps. [9] A varnish stain can be used as a top-coat for an already stained piece of wood. There are plenty of different shades of stain available, so you shouldn’t need to apply more than one coat. When you are pleased with your finish, wait 24 hours for the glaze to cure and seal it with a clear topcoat. Use a rag to apply a thin, even coat of wipe-on-polyurethane to the surface of the wood and allow to dry. Now, if desired, you may dip your application cloth back into the can of stain, and repeat the process until the desired color is achieved. Once you have covered the piece thoroughly, wipe off the excess conditioner with a clean rag. Up to 3 weeks. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. How many coats? Overlapping stain on previously stained areas causes uneven colors. Every time you add stain, some of the old stain remains. Stains come in all shades of brown and black and also pastels. Pine wood panelling is making a comeback in interior design. "I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. Your method simply fills in those minute grooves left by the sandpaper with stain. But with the first staining, there was no old layer of stain underneath. Podcast Episode 176: When Are Compromises on Quality Materials Worth the Savings? Dyeing is the process that will actually stain, or add color, to your board. - M.K. How Many Coats of Stain Should I Apply? Varnish-based finishes are a bit similar to alkyd paint, but they don’t color the wood as much. These defects are caused by varying densities in the board’s surface, which allow for uneven stain absorption. Apply two coats of 2-lb. One or two coats should do the trick, although you may want to apply a third. Usually no more than one coat is needed. 4. It’s best to add another 2 coats of stain to your cabin after about 2 years. Remove the last of any unabsorbed stain with a dry cloth, wiping in the direction of the wood grain. Bear in mind that a seal coat is not absolutely critical, but if applied correctly it can result in a more even tone. Usually no more than one coat is needed. In most cases, we prefer two unless you use an overly dense wood that cannot absorb more than one coat. Robert Kingsley has been writing technical copy and procedural documents since 2007. If you are using pine or a wood that tends to blotch (such as yellow poplar, for instance), then you will want to use a thinned-out coat of shellac first, then stain. • Substitute a glaze or gel stain for the liquid stain. Expect the butted ends of lumber to accept more stain. © 2020 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Once done, wipe it off with a clean rag. Learn more about affordable, modern floating stairs, from design to manufacturing to installation. Glazes and gel stains usually contain a higher ratio of pigment. Apply as many coats as necessary. Some woodworkers claim that brush-on pre-stain conditioners are necessary whenever using brush-on or rub-on stains with certain woods, but that gel stains are much less prone to splotching and can be used without the pre-stain conditioning. This is how many gallons you need for one coat. Two to three coats … Gel stain is particularly forgiving with splotch-prone woods like birch, cherry, maple, and pine. The last step is to apply a protecting top-coat layer. 2. This will usually produce a darker coloring, but it adds a step to the process and slows production. Use a rag to apply a thin, even coat of wipe-on-polyurethane to the surface of the wood and allow to dry. I found a foam brush easiest for … Apply two coats of stain (allowing each layer to dry completely). If yes, how many coats and what brand/product did you use? After this first coat dries, apply a second to deepen the color. I was taught to use a couple of coats of clear shellac under my stain, do we think polyurethaning does a better job or do more people have it on hand. It's readily available, easy to work with and it takes paint well. Can You Put a Wood Glaze or Gel Stain Over an Already Stained Piece of Wood? This allows for a uniform finish without blotching or grain reversal. Do I stain first, then paint and then varnish or some other sequence? Swirl marks left by a stain-saturated cloth will become even more obvious under a coat … (What? How to stain wood using Briwax for a fast, easy, foolproof finish. This first pass is to wear down the small contours, ridges, and knotholes characteristic of softwoods and leave you with a more even surface to work with. Water-based wood conditioner (see Sources, below) makes the water-based dye easy to apply. If your work piece has any loose knots, you can repair them by dripping clear epoxy around the knot. Get a Perfect Paint Job on Trim, Windows, Doors, and Cabinets, Simple Way to Make Old Walls Straight and Plumb, Expert insights on techniques and principles, Oil-based gel stain in your desired color, A few pieces of very fine (320- or 400-grit) sandpaper. In this video, I experiment with several different stains on White Pine wood. Kingsley received his associate's degree in computer networking systems from ITT Technical Institute in Woburn, Massachusetts. Staining. Toners. Stain the pressure-treated wood using a paint pad applicator, which is easier than brushing a large deck or structure by hand and more accurate than using a pressurized sprayer. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." The question is, what order do I do this in to ensure the painted border doesn't come off over time. Continue staining the wood, rubbing down the wood between coats with 0000 steel wool, until you've gotten the stain to the color you like it. Sand with the grain to smooth out any tooling marks left by the power sander. 1. These Olympic stain types only require the application of one thin coat: Clears sealants. It is okay to mix Danish oil with stain, provided that it is oil-based and the wood (including pine) treated with the oil has had at least 48 hours to dry. How to Wax Pine Doors Next, let’s look at how to wax pine doors. Afterwards, rinse the deck and treat the wood with Brighten, then sand … Get complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine. Once the surface is completely covered, allow the applied stain to rest for 2 to 5 minutes, then use a clean rag to wipe off excess stain, and allow it to dry completely. For a darker finish, apply subsequent coats until the desired color is achieved; ours took two coats. cut, dewaxed shellac to seal and protect your stained surface. How many coats? When painting with latex, the brush gets gummy fast. Stain the cracks (if you’re also staining a tabletop or planked piece). Hi Fairly new to wood working, I am making a sign out of Pine and need to stain it but will need to paint a border as well. Once dry, use a small rag to apply an oil-based gel stain. 5. Saturate the wood with stain by brushing a liberal coat quickly over the entire surface. The stain works beautifully, but you do need to have nice long strokes for large areas to get a smooth streak-free finish. cut, dewaxed shellac to seal and protect your stained surface. You don't read that sister publication-- Fine Woodworking?). Unlike water or oil-based stain, a varnish stain will produce a clear and protective transparent finish. For example, two coats of stain that is left on the floor for 30 minutes each will cause the floor to be much darker than two coats of stain that are left on the floor for 30 seconds each. As a trim and molding material, pine is nearly ideal. Natural bristle … This will usually produce a darker coloring, but it adds a step to the process and slows production. Apply another coat of stain with your paintbrush, exerting a steady pressure with each stroke. Allow … He has years of experience with networking and hardware troubleshooting to help guide readers through their information technology-related issues. 2. Plus you can apply it by hand like a traditional oil stain! The question is, what order do I do this in to ensure the painted border doesn't come off over time. 3. Give the floor a final wipe-down when dry and it is ready to walk on! Apply a coat of water-based wood conditioner to your pine board. Without a washcoat, the bands of softer spring wood will absorb more stain, enhancing the contrast on the finished wood surface. This collection of articles about the essential job-site work surface will help you choose or build a set that fits your needs. How to Stain Pine Molding. Apply perpendicular to the grain, then switch to a circular motion to fully work it into the surface. In addition to blotchiness, the softer areas between the grain lines soak up stain like a sponge, creating an unnatural look. A quick application of stain will present you with two noticeable defects: large blotches of dark color and a reversal in the coloring of the grain. Two Coats of Conditioner. The photo below shows the dramatic difference between the raw and sealed areas of pine using the same stain … Most woodworkers recommend matching the topcoat with a product that has the same solvent base as the stain—a water-based varnish over a water-based stain, or oil-based varnish over an oil-based stain. Seal Pine Before Wood Staining. Actually very similar in color to your last board with just one coat.. No pine grain shows through it at all. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. Step #1: Prep Weathered Wood: Benjamin Moore Restore (316) is our go-to product if your deck is looking grayed out. Lightly sand the entire surface of the wood with 320- or 400-grit sandpaper­, just enough to break the sheen and smooth out any high spots. • Apply a second coat of stain after the first has dried fully. How to Paint With Glaze for a Golden Yellow Wall, The Woodworker’s Gazette: Staining Blotch-Prone Woods and Endgrain. One Coat. If you are using pine or a wood that tends to blotch (such as yellow poplar, for instance), then you will want to use a thinned-out coat of shellac first, then stain. This does not mean you can’t stain a pine chest or table; you simply have to be more careful. Sand the wood with a low-grit sandpaper to remove inconsistencies. For a darker finish, apply subsequent coats until the desired color is achieved; ours took two coats. How to Stain Pine Molding. Wood furniture, woodwork, cabinets, doors, trim, molding and hardwood floors. Work end to end, maintaining a wet edge to avoid lap marks. Apply as many coats as necessary. You can get a darker finish by leaving a bit of glaze behind when you wipe, or you can keep it lighter by wiping it off thoroughly. It's readily available, easy to work with and it takes paint well. It’s important to keep the surface wet until you wipe it, and then to wipe thoroughly. Apply a second coat of polyurethane. Another factor that will affect the tones and shades of your stained hardwood floor is the original color and type of stain. Apply with a high quality brush, paint or stain pad, or with spray equipment. Once dry, use a small rag to apply an oil-based gel stain. Two coats are necessary to control blotching (Step 1). Give the floor a final wipe-down when dry and it is ready to walk on! To protect the finish, use a brush or rag to apply one or more finish coats of wipe-on polyurethane. 3. Glazes and gel stains usually contain a higher ratio of pigment. 4. Now, if desired, you may dip your application cloth back into the can of stain, and repeat the process until the desired color is achieved. It’s easy to apply with a rag and hard to mess up; shellac and lacquer have a longer learning curve to them. Any other tips? I may Once the surface is completely covered, allow the applied stain to rest for 2 to 5 minutes, then use a clean rag to wipe off excess stain, and allow it to dry completely. Lastly, how many coats of espresso stain did you do? Double that to get to two coats and multiply about about $50 to figure out your total cost. Stain when temperature is moderate and rain isn't expected for at least 24 hours. You can purchase premixed, water-based dyes or powdered dyes. Do I stain first, then paint and then varnish or some other sequence? Danish oil will penetrate the wood (including pine) through the stain, however, the ‘wet’ appearance characteristic of the oil will not come through.