Selecting stain color of stair handrail before floors?
12 years ago
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Comments (15)
- 12 years ago
- 12 years ago
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Colors for stair rail spindles and railing
Comments (5)One question: does the center spindle (not sure what it's called but the one that's fatter than all the others in the middle of the swirl at the bottom of the steps) - does that get painted too or should it match the railing?...See MoreAdvice for Staining my Stair Rail?
Comments (6)Removing an old finish by sanding, unless you are taking off a lot (like a floor re-sanding), is an extremely poor way to do it. It will not uniformly remove the old finish (from the pores) and can easily result in an uneven finish when staining. I'd recommend a chemical stripper done carefully with masking off areas not being stripped. The "wood conditioners" don't work all that well. They tend to work a bit better if you ignore the label directions and let them dry overnight instead of the less than 30 minutes (or whatever the label suggests). A better approach would be to use a good quality gel stain. There are other "wash coats" that you can use such as 5% solids shellac, hide glue, or other sealers based on your intended top coat. But these are more complicated to find than just grabbing a gel stain off the shelf. Almost all things with Tung Oil on the label are called "Tung Oil Finish" because they somewhat resemble tung oil. In fact, most of them are not tung oil, nor do they contain any tung oil in natural form or as a component of manufacture. Depending upon brand, it's either an linseed oil & oil-based varnish (typically alkyd or urethane) blend or a varnish, both of which are highly thinned (up to 70%) with paint thinner to make it a wiping finish. It's not that oil-varnish blends or thinned varnishes are bad finishes. They have their place. But what you are reading on the label is pure marketing fabrication. Pure oil finishes are very poor in excluding moisture (some are actually hygroscopic). The more percentage of oil in the oil-varnish blend, the less water resistance the resulting finish will have. A 100% oil finish will be an in-the-wood finish and will not have the protection that a varnish will. Hand-oil on a handrail needs periodic cleaning. Oil-only won't be working in your favor. Every true Tung Oil I have ever seen will say something like 100% tung oil and will not have any thinners that can be labeled mineral spirits, stoddard solvent, naphtha, [light]aromatic hydrocarbons, some other alias, or refer to the CAS number for the above on the MSDS, or very rarely, on the label. In my opinion, there is little reason to use pure tung oil. It's more expensive, looks identical to linseed oil, more difficult to apply, and if you don't do it right, sand between all coats, and have enough curing between coats, you get white spots that are irreversible and need to be stripped off. (See, KW, I do know what a "pre-stain" wood conditioner is.)...See MoreHelp! How to darken stained wood stair posts/railings?
Comments (11)metromom the difference was the product I used. The gel stain I had been using looked OK until direct sunlight or bright light hit it and then every brush mark showed - horrible! The finish chips very easily. The gel stain is somewhat opaque so the grain of the wood tends to disappear too! Polyshades is not at all like a gel stain. It is a stain/poly product and is more transparent than gel stain. I was concerned that it wouldn't provide enough of a color change but it did! The stool in the photo has had only one coat, no rubbing off. The instructions say to apply only a very thin coat and repeat if necessary. I think this is essential for a good result, especially on vertical surfaces, as Polyshades is quite thin and runs easily. If you trust that the color WILL change and make sure you apply a very thin coat only at a time I think it is pretty easy to have great results....See MoreFunky Stairs need Hand Rail Ideas
Comments (48)I understand that OP needs it to be cheap until closing because this is a lender requirement (not unusual) and if it is fixed before closing, it becomes a fixture and stays with the property even if the buyer doesn't close. CONSIDER: A solution to this would be a rehab type loan rather than the typical purchase loan. Benefit to the buyer is they don't need to resort to expensive hard money type loan as mentioned up thread. Also it gives the buyer the TIME to figure out a permanent solution. The buyer can close right away on a rehab loan. The disadvantage to a rehab loan is that the interest rate is slightly higher than your typical purchase mortgage. Something to explore....See MoreRelated Professionals
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