Hi everyone – I have a number of 16″ glulam beams running through my home, which look like they’ve been stained and/or lacquered, although they’re not actually shiny. They appear yellow/orange in color and I want to stain them a dark brown color so they don’t clash with the new stained alder staircase I’ve installed.
I really want to avoid sanding down the beams because I’ve done that before on a different project and that lacquer really gums up sandpaper, even after chemically stripping it, making it an incredibly time-consuming job. So are there any stains that require minimum prep and I can apply over the top of the existing finish on these beams?
Cheers
Simon
Replies
I think what you really want is paint--a nice trim enamel. Even cleaned up, GluLams are barely stain grade, and the work to get finished GluLams back to being stainable would call for heroic efforts.
I'd make sure they were clean, particularly important if the beams run through a kitchen space. (This is basically wiping down with mineral spirits, and cleaning with a very mild soap solution (a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap in a bucket of water.)). Then I'd very lightly sand--just a scuff with 150 or 180 grit. Then I'd prime and paint with a quality paint. I like oil based, but a top of the line acrylic from a paint store will work fine.
Thanks Steve. I'll look at paint - I really wanted to continue to be able to see the grain tho and I thought paint would cover that up.
Cheers
Simon
Staining
Simon,
I have to agree with Steve about painting because it's difficult to make lams look right with a stain especially since you are working on top of another finish. Nonetheless - to advise how to go forward =
clean off first with soap + water - than turps.... lightly sand down the existing finish with paper designed for sanding finishes - maybe a 320 grit would work fine - not coarser - than get some alcohol based brown powder dye stain - mix it up and wipe it on over the existing finish being careful to avoid drips and lap marks. Please practice this is difficlt coloring - especially working up top - this will require some practice. When dry - top coat with a poly. There are other ways to tweak the color before top coat or adding color to the top coat, but start with this -
SA
I thought I posted a reply a few days ago, but something must have messed up. So my apologies for the delay.
Thanks for the advice on the prep. The guys at my local paint store think I might even be able to apply a custom colored top coat to the glulams. I'm a bit skeptical of that, but I'll prep it and test on a bit no one can see.
Cheers
Simon
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