House trim and cabinet finish options

[ADAM GROSS]

I had a post a while ago looking for help on finishing some poplar for trim on our house we will be building. Thanks for those who had posted. We are closer now to choosing our stain and I was able to change up our wood choice. Originally we were looking at poplar, not anymore. I was able to secure some QS ash that we will be using for all of our trim in our house. We will have a craftsman feel to this house with the trim being appropiate. I have also built the kitchen cabinets and used QS red oak on those. I have dabbled with some dyes and stains. I like the look of dyes but have read some posts on the dyes and the effects of sunlight. I am looking for feedback on this wood with using dyes or any other stains for a project of this size. Has anyone used dyes on a whole house of trim and what did you use for a topcoat? I welcome all suggestions and feedback. Thanks in advance.

[Scott Holmes]

Dyes are not as colorfast as pigment stains. The color is truer with dyes and the dyes don't hide the grain pigments hide the grain to some extent. Water only dyes are a bit more colorfast than multi solvent dyes or alcohol only or oil only dyes.

Ash accepts both stain and dye well; my recommendation is to do a few sample boards with your complete finishing schedule to see which you and SWMBO like best. Make sure you keep track of what you did on each piece. WRITE it down, trust me on this point!

Top coat will somewhat depend on the color you chose to use. Some add a warm color, others add no color, still others can actually make the color colder...

Don't use little short narrow section for a sample; use a piece of trim that's 12-18" long and as wide as the pieces used in the house. This will give you a better idea of how they will look in-place.

[Mel Fulks]

I remember your earlier posts well . You were wise to take our advice and drop the poplar.The color of most of that crafts man stuff is pretty dark, I don't think you have to worry much about it bleaching out .I would be more concerned about not getting it too dark, especially in halls and any windowless areas. Dark wood used throughout a house soaks up a lot of light and you need to remember and adjust for that when making your color samples. I'm not a finisher,but I've noticed that when clients don't like the finished wood color it is almost always TOO DARK even though it matches their sample perfectly.Good Luck.