I'm going to need to do interior wood refinishing soon. Besides the standard vanish what have others tried and how did it rate far as: ease, smell, mess, durability, etc.?
Interior wood refinishing
- Thread starter Don Lucas
- Start date
My favorite varnish for application is now Le Tonkinois Nr. 1. Because it's an oil and resin formula, it does not have solvents to evaporate off, it simply cures. As a result, it smells good (to me) and is easy to maintain a wet edge, with no thinning needed. Seems to fill in the grain pretty easily as well. I think it holds up in the sun reasonably well also, even though you would be using for interior application.
I have used Watco teak oil for other applications. It goes on very thin, and will eventually dry hard(ish), and start to build up with multiple coats. I don't know that I would use it for interior work, though I don't think it would be too soft. It does have solvents, and would smell the place up.
I wonder if Owatrol Marine's Deks Olje would be good for interior work. I become concerned that too soft a finish will turn dirty and goopy when hand oil, oily sunscreen skin, etc. touch it... Since I haven't used it, I don't know. Stupid of me to mention it in that case
Does anyone use straight boiled linseed oil for interior work?
I have used Watco teak oil for other applications. It goes on very thin, and will eventually dry hard(ish), and start to build up with multiple coats. I don't know that I would use it for interior work, though I don't think it would be too soft. It does have solvents, and would smell the place up.
I wonder if Owatrol Marine's Deks Olje would be good for interior work. I become concerned that too soft a finish will turn dirty and goopy when hand oil, oily sunscreen skin, etc. touch it... Since I haven't used it, I don't know. Stupid of me to mention it in that case
Does anyone use straight boiled linseed oil for interior work?
What type of wood an how much are we talking about? I know there are 100 different products out there and everyone has their preferences. I've used Sikkens Cetol (natural teak0 and I think its useless, waste of money. At the end of the day I'd just prefer to stick with Epifanes. The question of thinning depends on what you start with; has it been sanded to bare wood or is it just lightly sanded from the previous finish? also, you have to ask yourself what you want in an interior finish... I love a high gloss look but finger-prints and smudges have to constantly be wiped down (like a iPad screen without an anti-glare film), or go with a satin/matte finish.
As a general rule, if interior wood can be unscrewed and removed without too much trouble that always makes the work easier, less smell in the cabin and faster curing. Whatever you decide, do solid preps and allow plenty of cure time; varnish takes a long time to get hard.
As a general rule, if interior wood can be unscrewed and removed without too much trouble that always makes the work easier, less smell in the cabin and faster curing. Whatever you decide, do solid preps and allow plenty of cure time; varnish takes a long time to get hard.
its about 6 coats if i recall..... i use a wool sock to apply ....sanded and applied ...let cure sanded and applied on the first three coats ...then i used a maroon scotch bright pad in between coats on the last three just letting them cure between coats ...for application i flooded it on and wipe it to an even layer ...this took about 7 days of applying and curing
Hi Don,
I also have the same issue - what to use on the interior. I want it to look more like furniture - not that "exterior with a quarter inch of varnish on it" look.
A of of our interior wood is in good condition and has a low sheen (but not sarin or mat) finish that does not remove the grain texture. Looks beautiful.
The previous owner claimed it was a coat of slightly tinted/dark varnish followed by a urethane product (from West Marine) that he rubbed on,
There are no discernible brush strokes or crap/dirt in the finish.
My problem is that only about half the word was finished this way.The rest has either the remnants of teak oil or some other finish that is almost non-existent any more.
I have experimented on scrap teak extensively and found a close match by using a light (rub on, rub off) coat of Minwax oil based cherry stain followed by a couple coats of Minwax semi-gloss urethane. This only darkened the wood slightly and matched the gloss of the other wood. Glossy or mat urethane did not look good (in my opinion).
I tried used various coats (thinned to various degrees) of Epifanes wood finish but always ended up with that "plastic coated" look of exterior wood.
I'll try to dig up some pictures later.
Chris
I also have the same issue - what to use on the interior. I want it to look more like furniture - not that "exterior with a quarter inch of varnish on it" look.
A of of our interior wood is in good condition and has a low sheen (but not sarin or mat) finish that does not remove the grain texture. Looks beautiful.
The previous owner claimed it was a coat of slightly tinted/dark varnish followed by a urethane product (from West Marine) that he rubbed on,
There are no discernible brush strokes or crap/dirt in the finish.
My problem is that only about half the word was finished this way.The rest has either the remnants of teak oil or some other finish that is almost non-existent any more.
I have experimented on scrap teak extensively and found a close match by using a light (rub on, rub off) coat of Minwax oil based cherry stain followed by a couple coats of Minwax semi-gloss urethane. This only darkened the wood slightly and matched the gloss of the other wood. Glossy or mat urethane did not look good (in my opinion).
I tried used various coats (thinned to various degrees) of Epifanes wood finish but always ended up with that "plastic coated" look of exterior wood.
I'll try to dig up some pictures later.
Chris
I've used Formby's Tung Oil on my interior wood and have been happy with it. It has some small amount of varnish in it. It wipes on with a rag and has a thin viscosity so it is really easy to apply. Every couple years I wipe on a new coat. It dries quickly.
Daly's Seafin was used for many years. It is extremely easy to use and does a nice job. I apply mine with a cloth. Easy to touch up.
You can purchase it from this site.
You can purchase it from this site.
I have some of this and that is the Hunter OEM finish. But I felt it wort checking into before going at it as I'm in no rush to do it.
I've used Dalies on the interior of an Island Packet that looked great. This is one of those oils that contains a varnish in it, that gets better with every coat. This owner is another that is extremely picky, so anything less would not do..
I noticed you have a hunter. What type finish is already there? That is a fundamental question that no one has yet to ask. Can't give advice until that is known!