I would caution against the gel stain because of the way that waterlox works. Instead of riding on top like a poly finish, it soaks into the wood. If the gel finish blocks that from happening, it could cause you some issues. I think you are better off going with a water based stain and mixing it in with the first coat of waterlox (I've also read that somewhere).

If you contact Waterlox they can give you better advice. From what others have posted they are very responsive and I think someone from their company even occasionally posts tips and help here and on the flooring forum.

I just finished Waterloxing my Numerar counters which were first stained with Minwax oil-based stain. I tested both Minwax's gel stain and oil based on scrap pieces, but preferred the look of the oil - for some reason the gel finished wood didn't seem as dark/vivid as the oil-based.

I was going for a medium walnut color (did a 50-50 mix of special walnut and provincial) and although it initially was the perfect color for me, I found it lightened up and picked up an amber hue after Waterloxing. It still looks good though :)

Be advised that Waterlox gives off STRONG fumes, initially. If you are doing this after install, hopefully you can seal off the room for several hours after each coat. After I did the first coat, I went and bought a respirator...

Someone here gave me a great tip to *lightly* sand with x-fine sandpaper after several coats. (just let the weight of the sanding block do the work). I then ran a tack cloth over the surface and did the last coat. This really helped with eliminating tiny dust nibs and cat hairs that inevitably find their way to the counter before it dries.

Ok - so probably way more than you wanted to know and I didn't answer your question, lol.

Thanks for your help. I found some threads on woodworking forums discussing this. Those folks didn't seem to agree. ;)

I think I will experiment with the scraps and see what happens. If it works, I will report back...

I refinished the sill of our bay window with about 6 coats of Waterlox last summer, and did 2 coats on the underside of these countertops last weekend. Yes, it smells awful! But it is beautiful. The GC is going to cut them to size but leave them unattached (for now) so I can finish them outside of the kitchen. He'll come back to fasten them when I am done.

I have an IKEA BB top that I need to finish so please post your results  IÂm really interested to hear what you do and see how it looks. IÂm sure it will be gorgeous. :-)

I believe these BBs already have a coating of something on them and need to be sanded first. Is this your understanding as well?

Well, I got home tonight to see my lovely new countertops and sink. I think I talked myself out of staining them on the way home because the stain mixing, etc. just seemed hard. ;) They are such a pretty honey color (beech) that I think I am going to leave them that way.

I put on my first coat of the Original Sealer tonight - there was just enough left in the can for one coat. I have the Satin for the rest of the coats.

With the Waterlox they are very close in color to the windowsill I refinished last summer:

{{!gwi}}

This is 6 coats of the Original Sealer.

Jeri - I very lightly sanded them just to smooth them a little and make sure there was no dirt on them. This probably would not have really been necessary but it made me feel better. When I put the first 2 coats of Waterlox on the bottoms I did not sand at all and it was fine. I thought I read somewhere (maybe product description on the Ikea website?) that they were treated with oil too.