1. Home
  2. Woodworking Forum
  3. Finish for red oak on stair treads
  4. Page 2

Finish for red oak on stair treads

Spar finish is soft.. That's it's purpose, it's supposed to be flexible. Shellac is harder than spar.

Reply to
tiredofspam
Loading thread data ...

...

Leave a wet shoe or a puddle from a snow melt off the kids' overshoes and you _will_ have a white spot.

Fixed can be, yes...more likely to need fixing--also, yes.

--

Reply to
dpb

Reply to
tiredofspam

What's the difference in cost?

Reply to
Swingman

Maybe, or rather than buy lac from India, they can manufacture it right here. Yes it is marginally stronger, but given all the downsides.. it is marginal...

Have you tried Shellac > tiredofspam writes:

Reply to
tiredofspam

So far I haven't find a flooring contractor who will warrant a shellac floor finish like they will their recommended finish product, which for many years now has always been a polyurethane.

That said, you're preaching at the choir in most respects ... my finish of choice, for just about everything I build in the shop, excluding kitchen cabinets (and floors), is indeed shellac.

Reply to
Swingman

Probably about the same, it was 12 years ago.

I did 3 rooms in poly, and 3 in shellac. the 3 in poly were dining, living and family room. I have a ranch. My 3 bedrooms and HALLWAY were going to be a problem for poly. I needed to get to the bathrooms. And poly's one day to dry per coat was not going to allow us to live there. Shellac would allow me to finish the job in one day, and be able to walk to the bathroom an hour after application in socks.

The HALLWAY takes the most abuse... and has exceeded expectations. It has exceeded the poly too.

Which would I do next time in the family , dining and living room? Shellac. No questions about it. Even if longevity winds up being 1 year less. I have 12 years on both now. The ease of finish is about the same. You need to work a little faster with Shellac to keep a wet edge.

For both I used lambs wool applicator... Poly keep the lambs wool in a saran wrap... Same for shellac, or keep it in shellac... or clean with alcohol...

For poly apply wait a day, sand nubs, vacuum, apply, wait a day. sand, vacuum, apply.. 4 days for 3 coats.

For shellac, apply, light sanding in 3 hours, vacuum, apply, apply, apply, wait until fully cured, and either sand or use a green scotchbrite. Can't use scotchbrite with poly. its too hard (I guess that goes to the hardness issue). The first sanding is necessary for nubs. Whatever was not picked up by vacuum.... But after your just building coats. It dries so quick that you don't need sanding each time.. the dust won't settle in like poly.

Either poly or shellac are good finishes, but I don't see the big advantages to poly.

Which looked better when d> >

Reply to
tiredofspam

I used spar on b grade plywood in my darkroom. Indestructible for many years even with the chemicals. But way to yellow for my red oak.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Harder yes, but it is more durable?

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Waxing and rewaxing was a real, time-consuming chore back in the day.

Now, both water-borne & oil-based polys and polycrylics are used. Flooring is the one area I won't argue that poly is best.

I've used Future floor wax (acrylic) for decades now, but on lino flooring. I have carpeting everywhere but the kitchen. Commercial Indoor/Outdoor went into the bathroom. It's much warmer and nicer for those nocturnal jaunts down the hall, knowwhatImean,Vern?

Maybe that's his sig or sumpin'? (He's filtered here.)

-- The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Ok, careful there, a spar varnish is absolutely not hard, it remains flexible so that it will not crack when flexed.

Reply to
Leon

That could be beer or wine.

Reply to
Leon

Spar varnish is more of a marine varnish for out door use. Designed to not harden but to remain flexible so that a spar does not crack it when it flexes. Not really a furniture grade varnish.

formatting link

Reply to
Leon

LOL. not here.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Now do you see why I filtered him?

-- The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Now do you see why I filtered him? ======================================================== Personally, I have never used scotchbrite on poly. I have used a lot of it on steel. Works great for that. Poly must be some tuff stuff.

-- The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

Reply to
CW

Here is what we did, partially at the suggestion of an area wood floor manufacturer:

1) Using pre-made Red Oak treads we sanded to desired surface prior to installation. and covered them with cardboard as they were installed. 2) Applied one coat of MinWax Natural stain which was recommended by the floor manufacturer to match the flooring we had previously purchased. 3) Applied three fairly heavy coats of MinWax Satin Poly with some sanding between coats.

I know the word MinWax drives some of the folks here to distraction but, again, this was the floor manufacturer's recommendation. They use a higher class of finish on their hardwood flooring but this is the process they recommended for a contractor and homeowner. They also steered me away from using MinWax floor finish because it was more costly and provided no real wear advantage. Apparently it does dry faster. The odor is what you expect from the MinWax products mentioned. We were able to put two coats of finish on one day and the third the second day. Then stayed off of it, with shoes, for another day.

The color we ended up with is a great match for the flooring. We did the first half of the staircase about 2-1/2 to 3 years ago when we were finishing the house. We followed up last spring with the bottom half which is at an angle to the upper part (as part of the basement finish). after the two year or so time lapse the two stair sections are perfectly matched, and we have seen no appreciable wear on the first half.

BTW - Don't varnish you way into the basement or upper floor! (not that I would) :O)

RonB

Reply to
RonB

If that wasn't rhetorical and you are interested in learning,

formatting link
is a lot of info on how to do it, including articles and opinions of luthiers and others that do just that.

There used to be a picture (may still be) on J. Jewitt's site of how he polished his own waterborne poly to a mirror finish so fine you could read the writing on the can of finish in the image reflection from the table top.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Personally, red oak with a clear finish is an ugly wood, and it turns orange in time as light ages it. I would first do something to adjust the color to something more pleasing to the eye then coat it with a very durable finish. Stairs get a lot of abuse, more than most floor areas, most of the wear is concentrated in the middle and front of the the tread, and it will wear very quickly if it is not finished properly. Shellac is great but it won't last very long.

Reply to
EXT

If you are getting orange out of your red oak after time it may very well be your finish. I have clear coated/varnished red oak pieces in my home that are going on 30 years old and they have only gone to a golden color. How long are you talking about to see the orange?

Reply to
Leon

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.