Has anyone applied glaze to finished natural knotty alder cabinets?
My home has natural knotty alder cabinets finished with polyurethane. The cabinets are in great shape and the finish is intact. But they are about 15 years old and are very light in color due to UV exposure.
I have seen pictures of natural knotty alder cabinets that have been glazed. They look attractive in the photos.
It seems the glaze simply adds a subtle tint of color while emphasizing the rustic features. But I worry it would make the wood look weird and unnatural in real life.
Has anyone tried this? Any before / after photos to share?
Comments (9)
Brad Stiff
2 years agoRelated Discussions
A blue knotty alder front door is a sin, apparently
Comments (36)Ok folks, continuing the eternal conversation about my blue door :) My husband and I had another conversation about why we each felt the way we do, and it helped us both understand better. His thoughts: We have a beautiful home that we have put quite a bit of money into improving, but mostly adding to. We are finishing our basement, and instead of throwing up drywall and carpet and calling it done, we have finished it just as nicely as the rest of the house. Wood floors, wainscoting, custom cabinetry, etc. To him making that door any color that wood does not naturally have cheapens it. So to him it would be like putting cheap formica countertops in a custom kitchen. He also grew up in a home with very nice wood trim, floors, cabinets and built ins that are stained golden honey. While he doesn't care for that color, in his home you respect the wood, and painting wood that nice defeats the point of having wood that nice. My thoughts: I love blue. I love French Cottage. I love the blue and the stone together. I think it would draw attention to our door and enhance the beauty. Blue is a happy color for me. Most homes built in the last at least ten years in my area are brown stucco and stone (just. like. mine.). I hate having the exact same thing as everyone else. I like to be unique (though not be weird just for the sake of being different). I also love color. I come from a place where houses aren't all the color of dirt. So after this conversation we are both reconsidering our positions and the thoughts of the other. I agree that paint would be a mistake because it would cover the natural beauty of the wood. But watered down paint that shows the grain and knots but still gives the color, or blue stain could be really beautiful to me. So does a blue door cheapen the look of everything else?...See MoreDoes anyone have/had Alder cabinets? Hickory?!
Comments (23)I am surprised that no one else has found that the alder cabinets are better on the budget than other wood species. Could this be a regional phenomenon? When I was first pricing cabinets, I found across several different cabinet lines that there was a 15-25% savings when using alder instead of cherry and approximately a 10% savings over maple. We were only pricing all-plywood construction so that may have influenced the price differentials somewhat. These prices were not for knotty alder but the regular alder. BTW, all of the cabinets above look beautiful! And, for the OP- $8K is not a lot to outfit the entire house in cabinetry...it goes fast!!! It sounds as if you rec'd a prelim bid from HD, so maybe you'll end up okay. But, add in any crown molding, rope molding, corbels, light rails, bump outs, better constructed boxes/doors, etc., and you'll be sunk.......See MoreDoes anyone have rustic alder with dark glaze?
Comments (3)I have knotty alder with 3 coats of catalyzed lacquer/sealant for my trim, interior doors and front door and LOVE it. It was expensive compared to other woods (cherry's not cheap either though)and takes quite a bit of sanding between coats of lacquer but it is definately worth it. It seems hard enough to me. I have 2 large dogs and young boy and have no worries about it's lack of strength. (I tend to run into it more not paying attention to where I am moving things and have not noticed any dings). At first I was a little worried because pre-lacquer, it is very light but with each coat of lacquer it got darker. Originally, I was thinking stain then lacquer but am glad I did not do this. As for the knots....either you like them or you don't. There were 2 grades of alder from my supplier, the more expensive had less severe of knots. I chose the other as I like the knots and feel that they have more character (on a small few they go all the way through). Off subject, I am new to this site and am wondering what dh stands for?...See MoreAnyone finish unfinished cabinets with tung oil
Comments (9)Riverspots, can you be more specific about 'tung oil preps'? Reason being that a lot of so-called 'tung oil finishes' contain zero tung oil. Mulemom--I'm planning to use real tung oil on my cabinets. Used tung oil on new wood window interiors that have been installed for three years & so far, so good. Refinished w/ tung oil some window frames which have been in service 4 or 5 years & those still look good. These are old windows that need replacing--leaky, lots of condensation & interior ice, even! Extreme conditions & I'm very satisfied w/ how the finish has held up. As an experiment, late last summer I used tung oil on the redwood side trays of my outdoor gas grill when I refinished them. They've been thru a lot of rain & snow over the fall & winter with no change in appearance. Anyway, I don't have any hesitation whatsoever about using tung oil on kitchen cabinets. More labor intensive, sure, but the results are worth it to me....See MoreBrad Stiff
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
PROEdmond Kitchen & Bath LLC
2 years agoI would rather not get into technique or chemicals via email… There’s a lot to cover there! I would however not put lacquer over oil - it can cause it to wrinkle. Visit with Sherwin Williams about what you want to do and ask them about Vandyke brown glaze. That’s what we predominately use as it is an oil based product that is a mixture of a stain and a glaze all in one. As far as accenting knotty alder, it’s perfect. You will get a lot of the dark glaze in the cracks, crevices, knot holes, and corners, and you can control how much you leave on the flat field areas. And whatever you do, practice on something you can throw away or the backside of a door and follow each step precisely. TSP to remove oil’s, light scuff sand, vacuum or wipe down, glaze, clearcoat.
In the picture below, these are both clear alder where the knot holes have been removed. The left one is stained only, the right one is stained and glazed. Notice how you see the dark in the cracks of course but you can also see it in the field area.
The next picture is the backside of a door with stain only. The picture below it is the front side of the same door with the same stain with glaze added.
Pep
last yearI have light gray painted Alder wood cabinets and am wondering if a glaze would give them more depth. They look flat
Pep
last yearcat_ky
last yearPep
last year
Edmond Kitchen & Bath LLC