Watco oil over polyurethane?

[joe milana]

Help, I have been asked for advice with a finish problem for someone. Their interior painter (which does a great job on walls and trim) put watco oil on their banister to try and darken it to match their new wood floor. Needless to say, it didn't do much for the color, and after about a year, it is still a bit gummy. Now they have decided to paint over this. Fortunately it is just the railing and newels and not the balusters. Any suggestions?

[Gary Max]

If it's still gummy after a year the oil has softened the old finish-----you can start by wiping it down with mineral spirits but I would bet you are looking at stripping the whole thing down to bare wood.

[joe milana]

To correct my first post, it is most likely lacquer under the watco. Not sure that makes a difference or not. A bit of laquer thinner on a rag and vigorous rubbing takes it right down to the bare wood. I was hoping maybe to scrub it with MS on a scotch brite pad and the top with a shellac base primer.

[bill schmoott]

Joe,
Strip it or most likely look at cleaning up an even bigger mess than you have right now. When in doubt, sand it out.

[Steve Schoene]

I'd continue taking down to bare wood. That way you will know you have a satisfactory surface to finish. You can dye or stain it if you need it darker before putting on a clear finish. I like shellac for stair rails. To my mind, paint shows it's grime faster than the clear finish. If you still need to paint, I'd use an oil based gloss enamel.

Frankly, this should be on the painter's dime. Puttin Watco on wood already covered with a film finish is just not even minimally professional. Of course the time to have complained was within a couple of weeks which would have been fully long enough to be sure that it was done incorrectly.