The interior window trim in my house is hard maple. I am in the process of stripping off layers of paint down to the bare wood and want to apply a protective coating that:
a. does not have a smell that drives my family out of the house.
b. protects the wood against the sunlight streaming in (the windows are south and north facing)
I was originally thinking of using either water based polyurethane and wax or shellac and wax. Are either of these choices good or is there something bettter? Thanks for all suggestions and help in advance.
Dave Christman
Replies
Clear finishes are the least protective coatings. If the finish material doesn't deteriorate, the wood underneath will. If you want durability use a high quality exterior enamel in a light color. Besides, using an opaque coating will reduce the massive final sanding that it takes to get that last 5% of the old pigment off the windows.
Polyurethane finishes (at least the single part consumer grade products) are relatively susceptible to UV light. Shellac holds up fairly well to light, but not so well if there is condensation that can keep the window muntins wet for extended periods.
If you absolutely must use a clear finish, you would use about 6 coats of marine spar varnish--Epifanes High Gloss Clear, Interlux Schooner, or Pettit Captain's Under glass you can avoid recoating annually, but will probably need to sand and add an additional coat every other year. This is an awful amount of work for window trim.
Double pane windows block more UV light, making finishing easier, and extending the recoat window. And, if you get impact resistant windows they are likely to block about 99% of the UV light.
Our son used varnish to finish new windows in his house in Denver. I certainly wouldn't argue with experts as folks here are, but in a number of houses I have seen with sills finished with clear finishes, I have not heard of that much upkeep.Gretchen
Double pane low-e windows, as you might see on new houses, block about 84% of UV light, letting the window interior sill and casing finish hold up well. But clear, non-coated glass, as is likely on windows that have to be stripped of many old coats of paint, only block about 20-25% with single pane, and about 33% with double pane, making the task of keeping that finish intact a lot greater I would think.
(At least these are the data from Marvin.)
And, I have tactfully looked away and bitten tongue in a few homes with clear finished window sills.
Edited 7/7/2007 1:52 pm ET by SteveSchoene
First off, is this an old house? Was the trim originally varnished?
If so, it may be worth the effort to strip it.
But if it was originally painted, it is generally not worth the effort to bring it to a stain grade finish. Better to strip, clean it up, and then re-paint.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
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