Wait to stain trim?

[CFster]

I just had new "new construction" windows installed, and I have to cut new interior trim out of pine. My plan is to stain them.

However, being from CT, it's cold up here this time of year and staining in the house without ventilation probably isn't good for my pregnant wife.

I was thinking of installing the trim now (so we'll have something to hang our blinds from), and staining in a few months. The trim will be installed with small trim nails so it shouldn't be a problem to pull it back off.

The interiors of the windows (Anderson) are unfinished pine as well.

Am I hurting anything by waiting a few months?

-CF

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Nope.

[Lawrence]

If you wait it's possible that your trim will get soiled or nicked during that time especially if you plan to pull it off. It might therefore be possible that it would look nicer if stained immediatly.

If you can wait to stain then it seems like you might also be able to wait to install it. Better I think to wait until you are feeling patient so that you can do a nice job on this important detail. Or, you could put your wifey up in a nice hotel or spa for a day or two. She wil probably like the idea :).

[Joseph Meehan]

I would be concerned that you might handle the trim enough over that time that the small amounts of oils from your hands will cause uneven staining. Do you have a garage? Even if you have to "borrow" a friends garage, I would try to get them stained and finished as soon as possible. Have you considered putting up some simple rough plain non-milled trim until summer?

[Special Ed]

Don't sweat the fumes and your PG wife. Your kid will associate that aroma with the best time of his life, and grow up to be a great house painter....

Edw.

[m Ransley]

It wont be a problem if you keep the wood clean. But why take off the trim to stain, it is not desireable since you will have a hard enough time making the pine stain evenly, you dont want to stain pieces different darkness, you dont remove the window to stain it, right.. You will need a Pre Stain , like from Bix to get pine to not look like crap. Leave wood on and pre stain first.

[dnoyeB]

put your wife in the basement and stain it now. Of course getting a pregnant wife to follow any requests would be quite a job :P And considering their hypersensitivity to smess and whatever else they choose to be sensitive too, it could be hazardous to *your* health.

Honestly, I would find a way to do it now. its likely te stain wont be as nice several months from now.

Of course if you wont stain with a pregnant wife, you wont stain with a newborn either...

[de Fragile Warrior Sports Supp]

What's she pregnant with -- something that isn't going to be living in your house in a few months?

[NickySantoro]

No, just try to avoid getting the raw wood dirty until you stain and finish it, especially if you plan a light colored finish. Sometimes pregnant women are especially sensitive to strong odors.

[EXT]

Even with small nails, some will pull through if you try to remove it causing additional marks where you fill the nail holes. Trim is best put up and left there especially if it is to be stained with a clear finish. With paint there are all kinds of ways to cover and hide defects and nail holes but not with stain.

The big problem also is after staining you still need a couple of coats of varnish or some other clear coat and that should be done in place. I think the best is to have your wife stay at a friend/relative/hotel for the number of days you think it will take to get the job done right the first time because once the baby is born you will still have the problems of fumes and smells to cope with.

[RicodJour]

Normally you would put a stain controller on the pine trim to minimize the blotchiness that happens when staining pine. Since you're concerned about the fumes, use a spit coat of shellac. Many benefits in your situation.

R

[mm]

I had a friend who was getting married and movign into her husband's house, that they were going to remodel. Well the only night that they didn't use birth control was their wedding night, and she got pregnant. Instead of after the remodeling was done. He probably had lead paint on window trim, that they woudl remove, so she ended up living in her old house for months, and they would mostly only see each other when they met at hardware stores to pick out hinges etc.. He hurried to get the paint removal done before the baby was born. I think he succeeded, and his wife moved into the house again.

What's particularly funny about this one is that she was a "sex counselor" at a college. Well they probably called her a "reporductive health counselor". They had a basketful of free condoms in the waiting room. Anyhow, she would meet lots of girls who claimed they had only had sex once, or once without protection, and bingo they were pregnant. And my friend always thought they were lying to save face. And she'd also laughed at stories about couples where the girl allegedly got pregnant on her wedding night. Yet in her case she knew that both were true!

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[CFster]

In the summer I can open all the windows and ventilate...

-CF

[CFster]

For what purpose? Just to hang curtains/blinds?

-CF

[CFster]

It wont be a stretch for him to be better than me!

-CF

[Norminn]

Got a garage to work in? Send wife away for a week? Nice to have major construction finished before baby arrives :o) I would cut, stain, apply one coat of finish, install, fill holes, another coat of finish. Might be backward, but sounds good. Most of the fumes from stain would be gone in a day. Water base finish = no fumes to worry about. I definitely would not install it and take it back down, as it is a lot of wasted effort and bound to damage something. FWIW, I have seen pine finished with a sanding sealer, no stain, and it was gorgeous. Don't know the brand.

[Joseph Meehan]

Dust, cigarette smoke, opening and closing curtains and or blinds, cleaning windows opening and closing windows. It does not take much to cause a problem when finishing.