I like what you have now . In person, I guess you would see more of the imperfections. My feeling is that the more you put on, the more imperfections. Extra coats will not cover already existing imperfections, since it's a stain not a paint, with the possibility of adding new imperfections.

Your example of 4 coats is very dark, and if that's the look she was going for, then she got it. I don't think you want to go that dark.

Right now you are focused on the stain. When it is all done, people will look at the overall appearance of the kitchen, not each door.

I like it the way they are now. Think they look great!

Could you share a before photo?

I think it looks great now!

The color looks nice. I wouldn't have noticed any unevenness until you mentioned it, and even then, I had to look really hard. It wouldn't bother me, but I know you are more particular about these things. Maybe do a few more doors and see how they look as a whole?

I like the color. What is it? I may be refinishing some kitchen cabs in about a month.

I like how it looks now!

It looks beautiful. If you don't want it blotchy, though, treat the wood with this stuff first. And read the directions; you have to put the stain on within a certain amount of time after using the pre-stain

OMG ... they are great ... and this is coming from a tree guy ... and thats the key .... try to look past the stain .. to the inherent beauty of the wood ....

but i think your problem is... that you are comparing the effectiveness of the finish .... with the quality of the wood ...

why in the world.. you cant see the beauty of the wood.. as they stand right this moment is beyond me...

and you are suggesting to cover it deeper in finish baffles me ...

if you wanted a paint like finish.. then you should have painted...

they are sublime.. and you did a fantastic job with them ... now enjoy them for the wood they are..

YES!!!!! you are way over analyzing it ... and part of it.. might be that you are looking at one door ... instead of the effect of how they might all look installed ...

put them up ... and step back ... as with many things.. like pruning trees ... you can always go back and do more.. but you cant undo what you already did ... so i suggest you dont go darker.. and then regret such .... [of course.. if you top coat with sealer ... you cant go back and add more ... i am not familiar with the product you used ...]

again ... they are sublime ... stop yourself ... before you regret it ...IMHO ...

i got so exciting.. i think i got repetitive.. lol...

ken

Lol Ken.

I'm in the midst of gel staining kitchen cabinets, too, so I understand what you are talking about. But step back from the project and look at some factory finished wood furniture--you will see plenty of color unevenness. That is common for real wood that has been stained. Portions will absorb more stain than others; one piece will often come out darker or lighter than the one beside it. While is a challenge to try to get the gel stain to not have blotches, rather than the natural absorption variations, unevenness is not necessarily something you do not want in the overall look, if you want to retain a real-wood appearance. If you put on so many coats of finish that it is solid, the grain will be obscured and you may as well have painted the cabinets with paint.

Tibb - The stain was General Finishes and I wouldn't want to mix other products. They have specific prep steps to take.

Newhomebuilder - I do, but I really didn't want to show that until everything was done. I wasn't sure I wanted to show this, lol!

Ken - Being a perfectionist will have you over analyzing stuff. I don't think it's always bad. I like to do things the best I can and my best had me wondering if it looks good or like a DIY job, you know.

"if you wanted a paint like finish.. then you should have painted..."
I totally agree and that's partly why I didn't want to paint them. I don't mind the grain.

Gyr - "But step back from the project and look at some factory finished wood furniture--you will see plenty of color unevenness."
I agree. I've been noticing other stained pieces I have aren't completely even.

Heck here's a before.
{{!gwi}}

I'm excited to wrap this up. I am going to have to move my poly work station to the basement - boo. On a happy note, I won't need to order more stain.

Shee, they look good! Leave at 2 coats.

I'm impressed. I think they look awesome as is.

shee- I used GF gel stain on a large 3 bookcase wall unit. 3 coats. Mine were pine and I'm sure more absorbant than oak, but most people think they're black. I think what you show with the 2 coats is beautiful! And the graining is very pretty.

Looks like a nice, rich color. Just beautiful with your countertop. I missed your previous posts on this. How much sanding did you need to do? By hand? or sander? I so want to paint my cabinets too, but your stain looks so nice and I have oak cabinets too.

Stop now. I've never worked with gel stain, but have read enough to know that there's a really fine line between "really good" and "completely screwed."

The thing to remember is that this isn't on top of new raw wood, so you have to accept some idiosyncracy with the finished product. Blotching and uneveness with the gel products is much more due to the application and wiping off than the wood absorbing the stain. The wood (or it's previous finish) is absorbing little if any of the stain.

Your wood looks way better than many of the other DIY examples that I've seen, so I would just stop, let it dry, and apply your finish coats.

Sorry, I was getting ready to leave earlier and missed some stuff.

Ellen - For the most part this actually gets a little more forgiving the more you add on. I do have a few small areas (that nobody else would notice) where I over worked the stain. Sometimes you can kind of fix it. An additional coat helped, but didnâÂÂt completely cover it.

Awm - ItâÂÂs General Finishes gel stain in Brown Mahogany.

Massager - Thanks! What color did you use for your bookcase?

Ladypat - I followed their instructions. The GF people are quite nice. I was emailing back and forth with a lady. She was very quick to respond and she sent me specs on how to go over existing finishes as well as raw wood. IâÂÂm using a water based finished so the instructions said to use a scotch bright or maroon scrubby pad (I used the maroon pad) and a half and half mix of denatured alcohol and water. If using one of their oil based top coats you can use mineral spirits. IâÂÂll have to wait three days before I can apply the poly. After the cleaning I sanded with 400 grit sandpaper and dusted well.

Franksmom - Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking maybe if I did another coat I was going to go over that line! I tried a bunch of methods, but found I preferred just using the foam brush for the most part. Wiping off gave a more uneven appearance (for me anyhow) and you had to be careful not to remove too much. Felt like a huge waste of product. For the fronts I did revise my technique a bit and used a cloth in the edges and areas that had a little too much. I also found it was best to work from one side of the raised panel, try and keep a wet edge and blend, and continue vs. slapping it all on and trying to even it out.

Tip for anyone going to do this - I was able to store my used foam brushes in a ziplock bag for a day or so. I had to work in sections and kept throwing brushes away every time in the beginning.

Thanks everyone! I'm excited to wrap this up, paint, make the roman shade and recover the chairs, and the appliances...........so excited for them!

Stay tuned.

I think the gel stain looks amazing and your counter tops look great with them. Excellent job!!!

I think they look great the way you have them now. I've done gel stain and totally understand how hard it is to get them completely even. I don't think you'll even notice any uneven places when you are completely done.

I used the java, but it looked almost black, so the last coat I put on I mixed with GF mahoghany, but they still look black. I did the shelves in just the mahoghany.

They look great--I wouldn't add another coat. Can't wait to see your reveal :-)

It's perfect now!! Beautiful

Perfect! They look great.