Painting and Decorating Concourse
734-464-3883
SM
Q: How do I get a hand rubbed fine finish with my varnished wood work?
Answer. There are two types of hand rubbed finishes, either a satin finish which is the most practical for wood work in a home, or you may rub out the finish to a high gloss which would be something you do on a musical instrument or a select piece of furniture.
For hand rubbed satin see this article here.
For a high gloss finish you first want to get a few coats of finish built up before you begin the rubbing out. Shellac and Lacquer work better for this than does a varnish (either latex, oil or urethane modified oil varnish) because each coat or shellac and lacquer melts together with the previous coat so that you don't have "layers" of individual clear coats as you do with varnish.
Start out with courser (maybe 400 grit) sandpaper and buff out all imperfections and then clean off the surface and progress on to finer and finer abrasives. You will end up finishing with a "rubbing compound" and a buffing wheel. To find a supplier of rubbing compound try a Internet search for musical instrument material suppliers.
Q: How much should I charge per foot for painting?
Answer: I never like to estimate on a per foot basis as they are more of a guess than a well calculated price. The only type of estimating that kind of works on a per foot basis is new construction interiors, particularly if they are for the same builder in the same neighborhood or similar style of house. Otherwise, I would actually do the work and calculate the time it would take to do the job - piece by piece and item by item.
Questions and Answers -3
Our "terms of use" governs your use of our website; by using our website, you accept this disclaimer in full. If you disagree with any part of our "terms of use", do not use our website.
Q: Should I pre-seal my pine trim before staining it?
Answer: Maybe, but be careful not to over seal it or it will not take any stain. I seldom use a pre-stain sealer. I thin the stain with clear base on wood that is more porous than I like it to be.
Admittedly there are times when pre-sealing is called for. If you ever stained a veneered door or plywood you know that in some of these cases the porosity of the wood is such that you do need to pre-seal them. The edges of some cheaper interior doors are sometimes a kind of "fiber board" that will usually stain too dark compared to the front and back of the door.
The cardinal rule is: Under seal rather that over seal the wood prior to staining. If you over seal the wood you have a real problem. I have done a few "wood graining" jobs over homeowner attempts to pre-seal (because some "expert" told them they had to) where the wood would no longer take any stain so we had to wood grain the wood instead.
Pre seal a sample test piece before proceeding to do the whole project. If you make a mistake by over sealing the sample - no harm done, adjust your formula or method and test on another piece.
Over sealing occurs it the product is applied too heavily or in more than one coat or both. Please be careful if you decided to pre-seal the wood prior to staining it.
The Internet Paint Store
"the right way to buy paint supplies"
 | ||||
