I need some advice on which wood type to use for our baseboards. I am going to stain the baseboard. I don't want to use pine because pine is too soft and does not stain evenly. I don't want to use oak because it is too grainy. I want a wood that will stain evenly. Can someone please suggest a wood for me to use? Thanks. Best regards, Sandy
Are you going to make the moulding yourself? Why do you want to use stain on your baseboard? Will you be using a ¼ round at the bottom of the baseboard to make for the unevenness of the floor?
Why stain? Get the wood you like and there is no reason to stain it to look like something it is not. I'd use cherry if cost was not a factor. Comes down to personal taste. Not knowing what your real goal is, it is difficult to say. Pine can be stained very will with the right methods.
Probably to avoid it looking unstained.
Luan (Philippine Mahogany) is well appreciated. Its not a very hard wood and takes the stain fairly good. You should make some test piece and find out how it takes various type of stain. Half of my house has luan moulding. I choose not to stain it because if a dent or scratch is made it does not show as much. I used marine varnish on the moulting and I like the look very well. In other instance I have used natural Danish oil as a stain and applied a waterborne varnish after. I have also used Tung oil instead of a stain before applying marine of waterborne varnish. With Danish and Tung oil there is no blotching and it gives a warm feeling. Birch is difficult to stain an anti blotching agent should be used first and at times it does not work. As for pine moulding It should be primed and painted This is my 2¢ worth. Every one has their own taste. I would suggest that you experiment on small piece of scrap moulding before finalizing your choice.
Regards, Sandy snipped-for-privacy@nb.sympatico.ca wrote:
Your Question: Do I just need to put on a clear polyurethane coat on the wood and I am done?
My suggestion: is maybe? After you validate what you want on test strips and are happy with the result, you may be able to do the job with a minimum of about two coats.
Both Luan and Cherry are very nice looking wood.
It becomes a matter of preferences. What I usually do is to make some test pieces with different wood and finish.
Polyurethane coating is different from one brand to another. They do darken the wood, and their intensity varies from one type of wood to the other. The location of where the wood has grown plays a role in it density and porosity. With Luan after doing some test strips, we may find that you need sanding filler first.
What I do is that I pre-cut and pre-fit the entire moulding first. When I am finish I label each pieces and remove them I then lay all the pieces on a workbench or wooden workhorses sand and apply the chosen coating. Then when I am satisfied with the result, I begin the final installation. I prefer to drill pilot holes for the nails. Before nailing the board against the wall, I place a thick sheet of paper between the bottom of the moulding and the wooden floor. I then fill the holes with the appropriate matching color putty. Later the gap left by the thick sheet of paper will allow me to insert paper between the floor and the bottom of the moulding. This way I do not have to worry about dripping coating.
Before starting the nailing, it would be a good thing to locate all the 2X4 or 2X6. This way you will avoid nailing through plaster or panel wall with no holding power.
Sorry with too much details.
I rehab old houses in my spare time, often using stained baseboards. I have always used pine or poplar for cost reasons, either can be stained fairly easily. Makes sure you use a wood conditioner and several applications of stain. I've never used toe strip unless there was a good reason.
My current project I replaced the baseboards with pine, and refinished all of the existing maple woodwork (door and window frames) and unless you have a trained eye for that sort of thing, you can't tell the difference between the new and old.
The OP probably doesn't like the look of unfinished wood?
In my neck of the woods, Luan is thin flexible plywood used primarily for underlayment....
And really cheap door skins.
Luan is not quality stuff!
Locutus, did you know that there is now a purpose made underlayment plywood that comes in 4x4 sheets? It handles like luan, is much more water and rot resistant, is easy to handle, and comes with a grid printed on the face for easy cutting and screw location. I know you flip houses, and it may be useful for you.
In my neck of the woods, Luan is thin flexible plywood used primarily for
Please view the following link: Luan comes in all sizes of solid wood.
In my neck of the woods, Luan is thin flexible plywood used primarily for
Please view the following link: Luan comes in all sizes of solid wood.
Luan is not quality stuff!
Could you explicitly define the meaning of QUALITY so it can be measured with a yardstick.
For years Teak was used for bulkheads, cabinets, floors and many other things inside and outside of sailboats. Now the trend is toward cherry wood. Some people are saying it is because it does not darken the inside of the boat as much as teak? Others still prefer Mahogany. FWIW
It's still ugly and usually painted where I live.
Downes and Reader, a local mahogany specialist and importer doesn't even bother to list it with the real mahoganies.
Price teak and you'll know why the change.
Hi Sandy,
I just finished a set of stairs, handrails and spindles. Needed to match a stained bamboo floor. The wood was poplar. It came out very nicely. I used wood conditioner and oil stain. I found I could bring more of the grain out if I rubbed the stain in at a 45 degree angle to the grain.
Put 2 coats of Polyurathane on top of that. Would have put on another coat but between outside temperature slowing me down and the need to get moved into this house I had to forego that coat. Even though Poplar is on the softer end of the hardwoods I believe the Polyurathane really toughens it up.
Good luck and do some tests on various types of wood that are in your price range.
Roy
snipped-for-privacy@hp.com wrote:
it's nice stuff to work with. It's stable, relatively inexpensive, easy to work and takes stain nicely.
An additional factoid some might interesting. Philippine Mahogany was used in building the Higgins Landing Craft[1] used for getting troups to the beaches during D-Day.
[1]:
Barry, I haven't seen that, I will look for it next time I need underlayment. Thanks for the heads up!
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