Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Feb 08, 1999 06:34am | #1

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   I don't know what color the stain was but I think you have to remove poly - chemical or abrasive - sand to a uniform color, stain if you'd like, and orange shellac (now called amber) - 1 coat half strength and one coat full strength. Sand, vac, and tack rag between coats, using #0000 steel wool. I like to finish with #0000 for a less glossy finish - either with or without paste wax. The orange shellac has been sufficient for obtaining a good color over old oak - even sanded - but in matching with new I stained it lightly.

2. 
   Carole | Feb 08, 1999 11:36pm | #2

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   Thanks Bill, your suggestion backs up my own opinion- strip it and do it right. Hope it can be done without removing it from the stairway. Of course, the contractor prefers the less complicated approach, but I shall stand my ground!
   The stain on the oak was a dark but very warm color- almost a mahogany tone with darker streaks in the grain. Sanding left some light amber spots on high areas, and since the tack cloth was used stingily, the current finish is about as smooth as a poppyseed bun! I probably should have had a furniture finisher do the job instead of the painter, me thinks, but I went by the GCs recommendation... It's such a prominent feature (with a balcony) in the foyer that I think it needs proper treatment.

3. 
   Carole | Feb 09, 1999 12:39am | #3

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   How can I salvage the finish on an oak bannister to give it the look of aged patina? It had been stained and coated (sloppily) with shellac some years ago. I should have tried to smooth the shellac, but instead it was suggested that the surface be sanded and poly-ed. Now it looks flat and has absolutely no character. To make matters worse, the sanding took off some of the stain in spots, and so there are lighter areas to be touched up to even-out the color. The contractor's fix suggestion is to now apply tinted varnish over the whole mess. I think this approach will hide the grain of the wood and make matters worse. Please help...

4. 
   Guest_ | Feb 09, 1999 12:39am | #4

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   In my own house, I found that the original oak trim was dark. Previous owners had made alterations and to match, they stained the new oak dark. When I simply cleaned the original, it was much lighter and golden in color leading me to the presumption that it was indended to be much lighter than the previous owners match. So then I removed all the new and replaced it - very lightly and carefully matched stain - and shellaced. In explicably (to me at least) even when I sanded original trim to bare wood, or flipped it and planed a new surface, it did not need any stain to match the old. All this to question if your banister was ever really stained or just aged.