We are looking at putting up new six panel doors. The salesman we talked to said that pine doors tend to stain more unevenly than oak. Anyone have experience with this. The pine is a lot better price so I wouldn't mind going with them.
sand it well finish with 220 with the grain. use gel stain
He is correct. However, you can size them before staining. That will partially seal them - sealing more in the more absorbent areas - and that will even out the stain when applied. What to sizw with? Well, a wash coat of 1lb. shellac will do it. So will a wash coat of highly diluted white glue. You can also buy special sealers.
Another way is to not stain it. Certainly, I personally wouldn't stain oak. Probably not the pine either. The reason is mostly esthetic but also practical...it is unlikely you'll be able to stain the panel tongues and - as they expand & contract seasonally - unstained areas may show.
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Pine will need a pre- stain treatment to take a darker color. And doesnt have the grain to stain as well. If you like clear - no stain , pine is fine. If you have oak trim. go oak. It depends on what your decorating is like and what will look best. Pine with just finish will be the lightest. Pine will resist weathering better. Its really up to your decorating scheme what will fit best.
New doors dont need sanding just be sure its clean. and using gel stain without pre stain on pine will Ruin the door. Be sure your installers work with clean hands, better yet give them cotton gloves when they set the doors in. Grease can ruin wood if you get a hack and it wont be evident till it is stained or finished. Then it will be to late.
True. However many pine doors are used and look good. A lot depends on the particular door and in part with the stain you use.
Some have the wood so mismatched (not easy to tell by looking) that half of one panel will stain dark and the other half light. You can work around that to some degree with various tricks, but I don't like the look, some people don't seem to mind.
However oak is more expensive. I like the look a lot better, so if I were starting from scratch, I would go with the oak, but that is just my opinion
So be it. I suspect you will be happy with it.
Consider getting just one door of pine and finish it. See how it turns out. It will not be too late to change. You might even be able to use a door that would not hurt if it were pine and the rest oak.
In any case, good luck.
Pine is very soft and not only takes stain rather unpredictably, will dent easily. I would take oak first, by far. A sanding sealer can help produce an even, pretty, light finish on pine - I haven't used it myself, only watched someone else. He was a pro and got gorgeous results. Don't know what product he used but it was more than one coat.
"New doors dont need sanding" Only if you dont mind snipe marks or cross grain sanding marks on the rails from the factories final sanding. Stain sealer is a good idea on pine I like thinned shellac Thined white glue raises the grain alot more. The white gloves are over kill. If you think of how many times a sheet of plywood is handled from the time it goes from distributer to truck to shop to saw to assembly to sanding before it gets stained and sprayed and becomes a finished cabinet We never used white gloves and problems were very rare and usually caused by some one spraying wd40 or worse silicone spray on a tool or clamp. Regards Gary
My 1200$ Anderson doors didnt need sanding and yes I know wood finishing , It took me a day to clean dirt from my Hacks install , I missed a few marks and sealed them in permanently. I just had a bad installer but for someone that doesnt know what to look for it can be an issue. Andersons are ready to fnish , and should be for the price, plywood is ready to be sanded.
My 1200$ Anderson doors didnt need sanding and yes I know wood finishing , It took me a day to clean dirt from my Hacks install , I missed a few marks and sealed them in permanently. I just had a bad installer but for someone that doesnt know what to look for it can be an issue. Andersons are ready to fnish , and should be for the price, plywood is ready to be sanded.
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