Questions about tinting clear finishes

[James Taglienti]

Hi guys,
I have a customer with an A frame living room. The ceiling is a prefinished knotty pine veneered paneling that was sanded at one point to raw wood. It is greyish white and looks bleached out. She wants the golden look of aged pine. I am trying to come up with a one coat finish to achieve this look. I was thinking that perhaps I could tint a clear finish to simulate the appearance. I am trying to do this in one coat , at most two, because there is a lot of surface area and labor might get prohibitive if I am wiping stains, etc.
I will also be building about 30 linear feet of low bookshelves with doors and a daybed in the loft over the living room. They will be pine and I would like them to somewhat match the ceiling.

I am even considering a shellac but i would want to try a flattener in it because a lot of light bounces around in the room and I dont want the ceiling to be too shiny.

We also talked about applying some v-groove pine paneling to the ceiling that I would probably prefinish in the shop. This would be the most expensive option and it may not be within the budget.

I have been looking at alcohol based dyes and some kind of flattener for the shellac and mixol for lacquer or polyurethane. Am I at least on the right track? Any help would be appreciated.

[Scott Holmes]

James,

How many square feet of pine are we talking about with this project?

Also note the sanding is a poor way to remove old finish. The finish is still in the pores unless you removed a lot of wood as when sanding floors with a floor sander.

The dye will not color the sealed wood although a toner (clear finish with color added) still cover the sealed wood.

Actually toners should be applied over sealed wood. Toners on raw wood can lead to blotchy affects on the wood.

[James Taglienti]

Hi Scott,
There is 800 - 1000 sf of pine paneling including some walls and ceiling in the loft area, and the actual a frame ceiling. It was sanded years ago by a previous homeowner. I may have to resand a bit but i am primarily looking for a quick, economical way to add some warmth to the ceiling. There is definitely some old finish in the grooves of the paneling. This is more a last ditch effort to make them happy with their paneling before a tearout happens. Some blotching would be acceptable... Do you think a quick sanding and a single coat of shellac would work?

[Scott Holmes]

Shellac should do the job... Mix it fresh from flakes. I like garnet shellac; others may not.

[James Taglienti]

Thank you Scott!