Remember all my complaining about sanding in my last post. I do! And here’s a little more complaining! 😛 haha I sanded for what felt like forever. I used sand paper as well as sanding tools (that’s plural). I sanded so much my thumbprint disappeared and I couldn’t open my iphone with my thumbprint anymore. 😉 Here’s my proof!
I took it down to the bare wood and removed the stain that was there so the new stain would show through. I mixed the 2 colors of General Finishes Gel Stain: Nutmeg and Grey to get the color I wanted.
It mixed really well and I am happy with the color. After a few hours of sanding, Ugh, I put the stain on and let it sit for a few minutes and then wiped off the excess. And that is when I realized that this method wasn’t going to work. The stain worked great on approximately 90% of the area but the small crevices and area’s that are most difficult to sand were not taking the stain. It wiped right off leaving an uneven coverage of the stain. When I tried to sand deeper to get in those small area’s I was taking too much of the wood off and changing the shape of the railings. Time to try something different. One of the reasons I decided to use the General Finishes Gel Stain is because you can apply it like paint and leave it on to dry. So that’s what I did. This makes the stain much darker and you see much less of the pretty wood grain. But at this point I felt it was the best way to go.
The great thing about this method is….you guessed it…NO SANDING!!! Woohoo! I brushed a thin coat of stain on and let it dry for about 12-24 hours. It will be sticky at first and the second coat goes on much better if the first coat is dry. 2 coats were needed because it doesn’t look even with just one. Once the second coat is on you can still see the wood grain but the stain is pretty dark so you don’t get a “stained wood” look. It is more of a painted look. But the stain goes on thinner than paint so it still has a look of stained wood. I wanted the other look but I will say now that 2 coats of stain are on and dry I really like it and am excited about the outcome. Here it is after a day of letting it dry.
As you can see from the close up picture you can still see the wood grain. And once I paint the spindles white I think it will look amazing!! I will be adding a coat of General Finishes top coat to seal it and once that’s dry, I will start on the spindles.
I few tips when applying the stain: Tape off and use a drop cloth where ever you will be staining. Wear gloves because this will stain your skin. I used a foam brush like the one in the above picture, most of the time it was the smaller thin size foam brush. That helped get into the small places. Brush with the grain of the wood. Do a thin coat to get a smooth look and then do a second thin coat to get an even look. Remember to let the first coat dry completely before applying the second coat or you won’t get an even look to the finish.
This has been a learning experience for me and I am sure there are other ways to tackle a stair railing. But once I decided to apply the stain and leave it to dry this project became much easier. Still time consuming and I’m not even done yet, but easier. Let me know if you have any questions. I will be happy to tell you more about my experience. I will come back and show you pictures of the finished product as soon as it’s done.
Thanks for taking a look,
Cindy
here are links to part 1&3
Painting and staining our stair railing Part 1
Painting and Staining our stair railing part 3 Done!
