Hello,
I have 700sqft of t&g fir that I am installing on my ceiling. I am prefinishing it to cut down on mess and neck aches. I chose to go with pure tung oil for a finish. My question is how long should I wait before stacking it? I simply don’t have the space to lay out 700sqft of boards. Are they going to stick together? Any suggestions? Thanks.
Replies
The drying time will depend on the temperature & humidity where you are. I'm in CA and have set tung oil finished pieces in the sun during the summer and had them dry to the touch in a few hours. I've also had them take a day or more during the winter.
Even if they're dry enough to handle, I would be reluctant to stack them - they will probably stick due to the weight of the stack. If you've ever taken a shelf bracket, towel bar, etc off of a painted wall, you'll understand what I mean. The paint was probably "dry" when they were put up, but it hadn't cured and the clamping pressure of the screws caused the paint to stick.
How about standing them on edge, spaced apart? You can save space by having several layers of boards standing on edge. You'll need to rig up a temporary frame to support each layer.
Why not just finish as you go? Cut the board, check the fit, wipe on some oil, and nail it in place, wipe the attached board again to eliminate any finger prints, then on to the next board.
I would agree with another poster that stacking even "dry" finished boards together is asking for trouble.
John W.
Edited 9/19/2005 12:24 pm ET by JohnWW
Thats kinda what I thought might be the case but I was hoping that I could get them all prefinished before the actual project starts. I guess I'll play it safe and stay awy from stacking. Thanks alot.-Mike
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