Building a new house and just finished the drying in stage. My wife wanted to go ahead and get a head start in finishing some of the windows. Her finish choice was satin poly. She got one coat on the windows. [time elapsed]. Now she has decided that she would like to stain the windows. question, what are my options? And yes, i’ve already considered replacing the wife.
i’ve experimented with a piece of pine and it seems that using a gel stain as a glaze might work on top of the poly. Other choices could be sanding or chemically removing the poly.
The windows are casements…any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Bob C
Replies
keep the wife...
How many windows did she poly?
You will probably need to strip and sand them, then stain.
I'll defer to others with more experience though.
Edited 6/27/2006 10:31 pm ET by CAGIV
probably about 15
Women who change their minds are probably responsible for 20% of my income.
It your case, this will be a good learning opportunity for her. If she learns it now, you can save untoild amounts of money through the rest of your lives together.
Sand it down
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You don't need to refinish them and I wouldn't recommend sanding alone ( you would never be able to get it all off and any future staining would be very splotchy ) .
A stained look can still be obtained by adding colored coats over the existing poly. Along with the gelstain, you could look at Poly Shades - these have the stain in the poly. By doing this you'll obscure the grain of the wood a little but there's no reason that you can't get a nice uniform color.
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
You can add color to the finish. I use the TransTint colors. Figure on several thin coats and don't try to get the color you want on the very first coat. Work your way to it.
However, on windows I recommend one of the new age lacquer finishes, like CAB acrylic and the corresponding lacquer from Sherwin Williams. These stand up much better to the sun than even marine varnish.
There are also two part epoxy finishes which are even more durable, but more difficult to apply.
If you go the gel stain route, you may find it difficult to to control the depth of color, as additional coats of poly may cause the stain to re-liquify and run around. NOt positive about this, but just a caution.
Personally, I think DW should strip the windows. Get her 5 gallons of Soy-Gel and let her have at it.
"I use the TransTint colors."
Hi Bryan,
What has your experience been regarding the lightfastness of Transtints?
I have yet to find an aniline dye that doesn't fade terribly when exposed to direct sunlight; some even fade rather severely when exposed to fluorescent light.
Thanks,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Everyone, thanks so much for the feedback. Here's what i'm going to try -- i'm going to have her poly piece of pine of similar colors to the windows. Then i'll have her lightly sand it and experiment with two different finishes -- polyshades verses gel stain. Then if she can get a reasonable match then i'll get her to try it on the most obscure window in the house.
My concern with sanding and going with straight stain is that i'll (or she'll...or she'll then i'll :) ) never be able to get it all out and then the finish would be blotchy.
I don't think I have had them up long enough to know about the lightfastness. I'm hoping the UV inhibitors in the lacquer help, but I'm not positive. Using dye in the clear coats solves the problem of the stain losing the connection to the wood, bat as you point out, not sure what light will do to the dye itself.
I agree with those that say you don't have to completely strip the poly. However, you will have to lightly sand so the next coat will adhere properly. Determine what kind of wood the windows are made of, buy some and coat it with the same poly you used on the windows. From there, experiment with stains, etc till your wife gets the color and sheen she wants. I wouldn't touch the real windows until you get that sign-off.
Try the least visible window, then try to chemically strip the bottom rail, let dry, sand and then apply the straight stain of choice. See what you have for a finished look. I would lean to the straight stain, no poly shades or gel coats, these two will build up a film layer and the straight stain will hopefully get absorbed into the wood. Then finish with the desired coats of oil based poly.
Have used polyshades in the the past and they work quite well. If you decide to sand you'd be doing the entire world an injustice by not letting her sand.