Restaining to a lighter color on doors
I am looking at a trim job for a customer; she wants to remove all the old dark (walnut stained pine) to replace it with red oak stained natural. She is fine with completely removing and replacing all the trim however she wants to keep the existing doors. They were built by her father and grandfather. I really do not get into refinishing but it looks like I am on this job. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to strip the doors to accept a lighter stain?
This is a real nice craftsman home the trim work is extensive.
Thanks
Replies
stained wood is really difficult to do a decent job on making things lighter..
your best approach is a chemical stripping followed by bleaching..
Not really a winter project.
It is about as hard as a hand transplant or a sex change operation. If you can handle those without any hassles, go for it!
;)
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I wonder if faux painting could be an idea. No,I dont have any idea how to do it,though
I strongly agree with the others so far. Stain is called stain because is does. Permanently.
Chemical strippers will do the trick, but walnut is very dark.
Good luck.
Zip Strip will remove most stains. Apply liberally , let it work, keep it wet with new stripper, maybe 10-20 minutes depending on finish scrub down with steel wool or nylon bristle brush, rinse with a little water and get as much of the finish & gunk off as possible. Reapply new coat, don't be stingy and keep it wet while it works. Keep doing this and let the stuff work into the wood. Mix a little ammonia into the stripper on the subsequent coats, this helps to work out the stain. Lay plastic over it to not it dry out & let soak for a long while. Keep scrubbing & reapplying until it's clean.
Let it dry overnight, then lightly sand with 120 grit and see what you have. If the doors are pine, then that's tough stuff to get the stain out. If it's still too dark, bleach them. Ask how on this thread if it comes to that.
http://www.acehardware.com/sm-zip-strip-paint-varnish-and-stain-remover-6-pack-zip--pi-1276736.html
If you decide to have them professionally dipped & stripped, find out what kind of process they use. DO NOT have them dipped in the "hot" process with extremely caustic lye & other wonderful chemicals. This process takes all the oils out of wood and wreaks havoc on the joints because it destroys the glue. Make sure the process they use is "cold stripping", and get them to guarantee the removal of the stain.
I didn't mention (as if I have to), that Zip Strip original is methylene chloride and should only be used outdoors or in a very well ventilated space with fans going & blowing the fumes out the window. You should wear a charcoal activated respirator, goggles, and chemically resistant gloves. Do not breath this stuff, it's very bad for you.
the chemical resistant gloves are very important.
Years ago, I stripped a small piece of furniture. I didn't use gloves. I ended up breaking a lot of the capillaries in my fingertips. They were bright red, and very tender for a week or so.
But the piece, a little music cabinet, turned out well.
Fortunately, I do learn from my mistakes <G>
Thanks all you pretty much verified what I thought. I have had a couple of pieces of furniture dipped and had luck with that but it was red oak and I went back with red oak. I'll talk to her on Monday and let her know it will be too costly for me to do the doors.
THANKS ALL!