I’ve written before about my love for wood staining. In a world of laminate from Ikea and pre-finished wood from Home Depot, we forget that wood staining isn’t just a dramatic statement, it’s a real artform, but it’s dying out.
We’re doing our part to keep it alive.
I’ve been lucky to work on this home’s extensive staining project over the last few years. The architectural detail and craftsmanship in the woodwork is fantastic, and my job as the wood staining expert is to not only ensure I’ve got colour matching throughout all the areas, but also to make sure the wood grain doesn’t get lost in coverage.Other things I’ve had to watch for has been dripping and even making sure finish on all the surfaces offers a similar shine. When you’re talking this much surface area, that takes a lot of attention to detail.
Staining is always a labour of love but there’s nothing better to do for good quality woods. With mass-produced MDF and laminate everywhere, what little great woodwork we have should be stained, and not painted.
Today’s enviro-friendly stains are durable and good for Mother Earth. I only use Earth-friendly products, and I stand behind them. If I can’t work with a stain at home around my family, I wouldn’t put it in your home.
Quality staining and clear-coating can last for decades if done right. So, we do it right, but with Earth-friendly products.
We’re not just plaster-and-paint guys, we’re the guys you call for great wood treatments that will last for ages, whether it’s staining or clear-coating existing finishes. We’ll do woodwork all over the Lower Mainland, so keep us in mind if you have a project (big or small) you’re thinking of, or if a friend’s 1930 fireplace mantel needs rescuing.
I’ve always enjoyed refinishing wood, including wood furniture. Last weekend, I decided to tackle a little side project of refinishing an oak table. I really enjoy the beauty of rejuvenated wood, so I was pretty keen to get started on this one.
Using a new 6-inch orbit sander with paper discs varying between 100- to 220-grit, I removed most of the old finish with great ease, compared to doing all the work by hand.
Something to keep in mind when refinishing any kind of wooden table is, it’s likely a veneer, and if you sand too much, you’ll wear through the woodgrain pretty quickly and hit the core-wood base — which isn’t going to have any of the grain’s appeal. This is where it’s dangerous to use an electric sander if you’re not sure you can control how far down it’s sanding.
For this particular table, I figured using two different stains would work best. This choice was inspired by the table itself. Since the centre was slightly raised, I thought a contrast on each level would enhance the design.
I used 100% water-based stains and clearcoats for this refinishing job, and I’m thrilled with the results. The low-VOC content and lack of smell was great, and I absolutely plan to work with these projects again when I’m on larger projects.
Check out the photos and you’ll see why I’m feeling good. I hope more of these tasks come my way in the future.
So why would you want to use wood graining on your project? Lets start with the creativity, being able to control the colours and style of wood your looking to get is much easier when its created by hand, id say that’s a big asset. Next would be its Eco-friendly no need to replace any existing wood or if your building a new home MDF (medium density fiber board) is a great option as its cheaper to buy then real wood and saves the environment from another tree cut down. The 1st picture is a sample I created for an upcoming project the client loved it so much they have decided to d0 3000 liner ft. the cost savings is amazing and leaves room for lots of creativity. I will be sure to write a blog post about it once the project starts.
Now back to the ceiling, this home had that old school west coast style with the cedar ceiling from the exterior spanning all the way into the living room it looked great but the colour was way to orange and this client wanted to go more restoration hardware style. So I went to the drawing board and this is what I came up with. Painting the ceiling out in a solid colour was a great start then an idea hit me I want to make the ceiling look like a hardwood floor with different size pieces of board well lets say great idea TON of work, take a look closely at the pictures and you can see how the joints look natural and the wood flows as it should.
Conclusion Many considerations need to be taken in before starting a project like this, remember that wood is a natural thing it would not come in 20 ft lengths (in most situations) try to keep it simple avoid using more than 3 colours as the more you use it adds to the cost$$ think shading. I hope you have enjoyed my post and hey leave some comments I will answer questions.
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