Inching Along. Frustratingly.
Yesterday. Never-ending door stripped and sanded.
Today. I was breathless with excitement that I could stain the door!!!!!!! Wow! What a difference! It looks F A B U L O U S!
But…oh. Oh shit. Why is one area so dark???????? WHY?
So I put a second coat of stain on everything BUT the dark area. This helped but it is still not right. Damn! I am quite vexed! Tomorrow, I will buy a darker stain and put a third coat on everything but the dark area. Oh, see the pretty crystal chandelier?
I also painted the north porch railing spindles! I will paint the bottoms tomorrow.
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Did the glorious crystal chandeliers help your frustrations?
I don’t know anything about staining wood or removing old finishes so this might be a really dumb question, but… What would happen if you carefully and lightly sanded the dark area? Would it remove the stain completely or would it just make the stain color lighter? Anyway, I don’t even know if you prefer the whole thing the lighter or darker color, so my question might be irrelevant!
I think your ideas are great Kerri as usual— it looked slightly darker to begin with. I didn’t see all the pictures before commenting. I guess all old wood or all 1894 previously stained wood that has been weatherbeaten??
Thank you Sandra! I must say, we must think alike because I always find myself agreeing with your comments!
Kerri you are so kind! I frequently agree w you & Tiffany. Great minds think alike.
Next time use Minwax pre- stain it will help with the wood taking the satin more evenly.I use it all the time and it makes a big difference.I don’t think it will help now unless you give it a very good sanding.
No, you should’ve used Wood Bleach on it. It would’ve faded the dark area and bring everything to an even tone. Wood bleach is in powder form, mixes with hot waterand applied, it goes to work right away. When I stripped the chestnut woodwork in my house, most of it had a greyish haze, some had very dark areas. These were minimized with the w.b.
I’ve had that problem with staining doors before. It’s just that some parts of the wood are more porous than others. I now us a stain sealer before I stain any wood and the results are much more even. If you want to start the door over again you can wash off the stain with denatured alcohol and fine steel wool. It takes time and you kinda smell like a drunk when you’re finished but it brings the door back to original wood.
He has been using denatured alcohol on all the woodwork to remove the old stain.
I was going to say that my professional finish carpenter friend always uses a stain sealer before staining anything. It seemed like just a lot of work, until I saw what happened when it wasn’t used.
Sanding sealer fixes all these issues.
Was an outer door with glass exposing what is now dark to sunlight. Could that have made that area drier and more porous?
Re-sand the door, use wood bleach- It’s Oxaylic acid and can be purchased at most home centers as “deck cleaner” (check contents) To use the wood bleach you mix it with water and apply it with a a brush. Let it set overnight and re-coat areas that are still dark. Let it dry completely and sand lightly to remove the wood bleach residue and smooth the wood. Since it is mixed with water, the water will raise the grain of the wood. After that you can use a pre-stain wood conditioner. It is the same thing as stain without the pigment- goes on clear and slightly seals the surface. It works well on woods that stain unevenly such as pine, alder other soft woods. For me, it has had no effect on hardwoods such as Oak. My hesitation about using sanding sealer would be that it would seal the wood too much to accept the darker stain.
It can be fixed. Just experiment and be patient. It will look great.
I think all the ideas to use sealer 1st sound right on the money— especially new wood vs 1894 already stained wood— everything looks crisp & glorious!!!
The spindles & the door & the chandelier are just wonderful!!!
Oh dear I didn’t realize all old wood. I know nothing about this & defer to all of you experts!
I just like seeing all the fresh finishes when done. Nuts & bolts of all not my forte but sure glad Ross has input from all your restoration ideas & expertise!!!
You can see in the pre-stained photo that that area appears darker than the rest. As others have said its probably more porous and or was affected by a glass screen door.
When it was used as a hotel there was probably a metal plate on outer door that patrons would use to push open door with tush while hands full with luggage. Just a thought…