Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 20, 2005 06:04pm | #1

   idiot for keeping the wainscoting  ?? Why? I would have done that and be in the same spot as you..

   I guess if it 'were me' I think ALOT on how important it is to match the floor.. Some may insist but Is it worth it?

   I'd do something stupid.. Sort of like get that Blue tape... Tape off the molding on one side of the room and paint it whatever color you think will be 'nice'..

   Stand back and take a good look at it in different light in several days...

   Then decide if you like the look.. DO NOT do it the same day.. Take the time to decide..

   Just me...

2. 
   Rich14 | Jul 20, 2005 10:02pm | #2

   Anonym,

   (Please sign your next message with a real name. We all promise not to blame you for anything! We have all been there! There are no dumb questions or dumb actions. The willingness to learn is all that's important in life)

   Here's a very sincere suggestion. Call a friend over and have him or her look at the room. Don't coach. Ask for an opinion in general about the appearance of your woodwork. I think you will be amazed that others will not see the faults that are so blatantly "obvious" to you. We often get too close to the work to be objective or fair to ourselves.

   Then call the faults to your friend's attention. He or she will probably acknowledge some variation in tint or color, but will find it part of the character of the work and not at all objectionable.

   I know every flaw in every piece of furniture I have built. Every piece of hardwood on my floors, every stone in my walkways. Right after I'm done, they look so obvious. Sometimes I feel like apologizing for them. But no one else can see them! And if I ignore them for a while, they disappear and I find it very hard to relocate them.

   Rich

3. 
   DANL | Jul 21, 2005 01:24am | #3

   Don't know if this will help now--maybe for future--if you use the complimentary color, it tones down (makes it less intense) the color you put in on. So, in your case, wiping a transparent color of blue (like artists' oil paint--Pthalo blue is transparent) would help the orange become more neutral brown.

4. 
   jayp | Jul 27, 2005 10:02am | #4

   I believe if you use Gel Stains (Minwax sells a line that can be purchased at HD) you can darken the tone of the crown moulding even if it has a finished topcoat over it.  The gel will allow you a little more control without dripping and spilling, and you can wipe it off and reapply to areas that don't seem to go on as "uniformly".  However, I would assume you'd still need to seal over the stain after application and sufficient drying time.

   Not sure if this is a better solution than the polyshades, but I've never worked with the polyshades before so I can't comment on their application characteristics.

1. 
   imanonym | Jul 28, 2005 11:16am | #5

   Thank you for your replies.  I think Rich is right, after I looked at it again it is not as awful as I thought.  I sanded it lightly and it looked even better.  Not good enough yet though. 

   When I mixed the black and the green dye it looked very bluish in the universal sanding sealer, it worked very well on the wainscoting and trim.  It looks way better with the dark wood floor.  My goal was to darken, thus the black, and tone it down; I don't know why I went for green instead of blue dye.  I could've avoided the whole thing if I had matched the existing woodwork to the new floor, but I wanted dark red walls; red and orange, yuck.  Yep, it's a really dark room at night, but looks good with the big windows in the day. 

   Speaking of walls, has anyone ever heard of putting polyurethane on painted walls?  I thought I was buying good paint, Consumer Reports said so!  But that red (about five coats now) just streaks if I wipe it at all.  So finally, I contacted the paint company, they said I should sand them lightly, then polyurethane them, and they will pay for the polyurethane.  I have been putting it off for almost a week.  I've done a lot a coats of polyurethane, on a lot of floors, but never found it to be easy (too worried about bubbles, dust, hair, etc.).  I'm having a hard time imagining myself doing the walls. 

   Anyway, it just worked out that i am going to have to tackle the walls before I fix that crown molding.  I know it should've been the other way around.  I bought some oil-based wipe-on poly, and I decided I will tint it.  I bought some japan colors to tint with, and I hope that was the right choice because those little cans are spendy.  I'm guessing a little goes a long way.  Just hope they have a long shelf life.  I've never used a wipe-on poly, but I am hoping it will be easy to work with in such a awkward position. 

   But, I am starting to wonder about Jay's idea of Gel Stains.  I guess I was trying to avoid the highly detail work of darkening the lighter areas, without darkening the darker areas.  I was hoping for just one more coat of a uniform dark color to even things out.  Maybe I should get some Gel Stain and (without being too much of a perfectionist) go over some of the light areas, then use the tinted wipe-on poly.  That might lessen the chance failure of my wipe-on poly idea; I don't want the darker areas to get just massively darker.  Though, like I said earlier it is not that bad, no big globs or anything.

   Thank you all again, I really appreciate the input!

   Danette