radio@spuxll.UUCP (Rick Farina) (08/12/85)
I am replacing some of the trim in my 30 year-old house, and am trying to match the existing trim. The original owners of the house took care of the trim -- it is not whitewashed or painted, and therein lies the problem. The existing trim does not appear to be stained -- the color of the trim appears to vary in shade with the grain and darkness of the wood. In some cases it is almost the yellowish color of oak, in others almost the orange of teak. In all cases, the grain is visible and highlighted. I have tried the stains of several manufacturers. I've used several different flavors (oak, maple, teak), and in all cases I get a product that covers much too heavily. On the other hand, I have tried appling clear varnish (the only varnish I've been able to find) over my sample (pine) trim, and I get no color change in the wood at all. I have tried several varnish-stains, and the results are heavier than varnish-only, lighter than stain-only, but still darker and heavier than the existing trim. My question: Is there such a thing as an "orange" varnish? The finish provided by the clear varnish exactly matches the finish of the existing trim. I now need only to darken the wood slightly. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanx. spuxll!radio
briand@tekig4.UUCP (Brian Diehm) (08/16/85)
> I am replacing some of the trim in my 30 year-old house, and am trying > to match the existing trim. > > I have tried the stains of several manufacturers. I've used several > different flavors (oak, maple, teak), and in all cases > I get a product that covers much too heavily. On the other hand, > I have tried appling clear varnish (the only varnish I've > been able to find) over my sample (pine) trim, and I get no color > change in the wood at all. > > My question: Is there such a thing as an "orange" varnish? The finish > provided by the clear varnish exactly matches the finish of the existing > trim. I now need only to darken the wood slightly. *** REPLACE THIS MESS WITH YOUR LINEAGE *** Well, yes, there IS orange varnish. Particularly, clear varnish that is 30 years old. It could simply have been clear when the original owners applied it. You might consider having a paint store carefully custom tint a stain for you. I did this with some stuff I wanted LIGHT gray - they took their stain base (clear), and added about 1/10th the amount of black tint than normally required for a middle gray. It worked very well, but that was for an indoor application. HOWEVER, if the original application was a "hard" finish, (i.e., varnish, Varathane, or even paint), then you MUST strip it before applying stain. I don't know if I'm insulting your experience here, but be aware also that exterior stains come in "transparent" and "heavy body" versions, the latter being as opaque as paint. -Brian Diehm Tektronix, Inc. ( I don't claim to know Tek's position vis-a-vis your situation. Hell, I don't even know what they paint THEIR buildings with!)