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Thread: Oil for Redwood Paneling

  1. #1
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    Oil for Redwood Paneling

    I have some walls in our bathroom I paneled in T&G redwood about 25 years ago. I never put any finish on it. Over the years it's been scratched a bit and fingerprints show up because of skin oils. It looks kind of tired. So today I sanded the wood, figuring I'd just wipe some BLO on it so it would pop and give it a light seal. Then I heard BLO doesn't like water. Part of the redwood is on the walls above the shower. It does get wet there once in a while.

    I was hoping a one-and-done oil wipe would do the trick but now I'm beginning to have my doubts. This was my wish list:

    - One coat application
    - Can take an occasional splash of water
    - Non-toxic (I can't open any windows now because it's very cold outside)
    - Fast drying

    Other than finding a lamp with a genie in it, is there any hope finding a product like this?

  2. #2
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    I'm a big fan of Watco Danish Oil - -it's a belnd of oil and varnish. Pretty foolprrof to apply. Should be fine with an occasional splash. But I'd recommend wiping it down if it does get splashed. Watco is also very easy to touch up -- just apply more. It comes in different tones, but I'd use the natural, and keep that redwood look.

    It is not really a one coat product. I'd put on three to four coats. It soaks in and cures, so you will see some irregularities since the redwood will probably soak it in in varying degrees. You need multiple coats to get even penetration and a uniform look. It is so easy to apply, and fast, that you can do this is a day or two, faster if your bathroom is pretty dry. If it looks dry in one place, just apply more. It is pretty difficult to screw up a Watco finish.
    Last edited by Lee Reep; 03-01-2015 at 11:31 AM. Reason: spelling

  3. #3
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    "oil" + "non-toxic" + "can't open windows [to ventilate]"= non-sequitur. It does not compute.

    Ont he danish oil - many people make their own: 1/3 BLO + 1/3 oil-based varnish [your call - regular varnish, spar varnish, whatever] + 1/3 thinner [MS, etc. my fave is turpentine].

    Flood on - keep it wet as noted, when it starts to tack, wipe itoff - hard and fast. Come back tomorrow and recoat.

    First coat - I would over-thin it to get it to absorb.


    BUT - you may need some waterborne thing for wiping to meet your requirements - I am not up to speed on them.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  4. #4
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    Thanks, guys. I knew finding something to fit the bill was a long shot. For many reasons, I didn't want this to become a big project so I was looking for a single coat application. I'll stop by Woodcraft and see what they have. Waterlox sounds like a decent compromise. Or maybe just tung oil. It all depends on how much it smells. We may have to get a room for a night or two. Or I'll just leave it bare.

  5. #5
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    Substitute d-limonene for MS or turpentine and you will have a nice citrus smell.

    Heritage Natural Finishes "Original" finish is a great product that is used on timberframe timbers. You might want to send off for a sample.

  6. #6
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    In a moment of weakness (never shop when you're tired) I bought a gallon of Helmsman satin varnish at HD. I figured it would cover the moisture issue and to heck with the smell.

    I'm about 1/3 done and this stuff doesn't impress me. Or maybe it's the wood. It has to be applied very thinly or it runs. When it runs it gets goopy quickly so you have to keep going back over it before it starts to set. I'm doubting I'll be able to do this in a single coat and I'm not looking forward to working with this stuff anymore than I have to.

    Or maybe I'm really rusty working with varnish. Lacquer, shellac, oils & WB finishes? I'm good. Varnish? Before today, it's been a decade or more. And all that was Pratt & Lambert varnish. Never had these issues with P&L.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    In a moment of weakness (never shop when you're tired) I bought a gallon of Helmsman satin varnish at HD. I figured it would cover the moisture issue and to heck with the smell.

    I'm about 1/3 done and this stuff doesn't impress me. Or maybe it's the wood. It has to be applied very thinly or it runs. When it runs it gets goopy quickly so you have to keep going back over it before it starts to set. I'm doubting I'll be able to do this in a single coat and I'm not looking forward to working with this stuff anymore than I have to.

    Or maybe I'm really rusty working with varnish. Lacquer, shellac, oils & WB finishes? I'm good. Varnish? Before today, it's been a decade or more. And all that was Pratt & Lambert varnish. Never had these issues with P&L.
    ".....Helmsman satin varnish at HD.......Never had these issues with P&L.........."

    You get what you pay for. Now, there no way out, only through. Can you wipe it on in a very thin coat? Thin it down a bit if necessary?
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott T Smith View Post
    Substitute d-limonene for MS or turpentine and you will have a nice citrus smell.
    Scott - did not know that. Excellent grooming tip - thanks.

    Kent
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  9. #9
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    Spar varnish isn't more water proof than interior varnishes. The thing that makes it desirable for exterior use is flexibility as temperatures change and resistance to being damaged by UV light. P&L would be a much better choice. (Moreover Minwax Helmsman is not known for being a good spar varnish.)

    It's not realistic to achieve a durable finish with one coat of varnish. Thin coats allow the varnish to cure more completely and are less prone to problems such as crazing.

  10. #10
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    Coat 1 is done. Since this isn't going to be subjected to the North Atlantic, if it looks good, I'm good.

    BTW, I figured out why I was having problems - I was painting not varnishing. It's a wall. Who varnishes walls? Autopilot kicked in once I had a brush in hand and started cutting in the edges. Once I started treating it like varnish, things went a lot better... and a lot slower.

  11. #11
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    We're paying the price for trying to take a shortcut with this. The wood soaked up the varnish unevenly and some areas have a flat finish, others satin. Anywhere there was an overlap in brushing on the varnish came out satin. My SO hates it. I agree but don't know what to do that won't make it a major project. The only way this could have ever been a one coat job was by some small miracle.

    I walked away until I had some sort of game plan. Yesterday, my SO started sanding the walls. The biggest wall is done and there's a part of me that saw somewhat of a distressed look and kind of liked it. (Probably the lazy part of me. ) I'd prefer a flat finish appearance. I didn't like the areas that had the satin finish. It just didn't look like it belonged. But I've never heard of flat varnish.


    The sanded area on the left still has some of the dust from sanding on it so it won't look so distressed after we completely clean it off. But I like the lighter color the sanding left behind. The varnish made it too dark.

    On another issue, what do you think about the mirror-tile/waterfall thing? Dated? My SO wants to get rid of it. It doesn't bother me. It's been there so long I'm blind to it.

  12. #12
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    I won't go into the mental machinations we went through but we ended up sanding the first coat of spar varnish and applying a second coat. I thinned the second coat because the first one dragged on the brush badly. Then I took every piece of red oak I had in the shop, ripped it to 3" and resawed the 4/4 stock in half. After running it through the planer I ended up a bit under 3/8". The rough stock was almost 1" thick.

    In keeping with what I did on the cabinets. I dyed the oak with General Finishes Ebony and put three coats of Endurovar on that. That stuff is magical! And that became the top trim. On the angled piece, I ripped about 1/4" off the width so the pieces would match at the ends.

    Then I took the towel bars and used that to shape a backer board. I took a 1" diameter washer to make the ends on the backer boards. I don't know if you can can tell from the picture, but the ends of the backer boards are the same shape as the outside profile of the towel bars.

    I had some 1/2" thick sapele left over from the cabinets so I used that to make some baseboards. The old oak base was pretty beat up. I still need to install a shoe and I'm struggling over making up new shoe with sapele or installing oak shoe that matches the door and casing in the room. The sapele looks great but when you look at the oak door and its casing...

    Anyway, here's what we got done so far.


    I forgot to clean the dust off the tile. It was a rough end of the day. The photographer wasn't too energetic.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kent A Bathurst View Post
    Scott - did not know that. Excellent grooming tip - thanks.

    Kent
    I buy mine by the gallon off of e-bay. It works great.

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