Best finish for barnwood wall?

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,
I'm installing some barnwood (actually an old chicken coop) over two walls in our basement. The wood is weathered gray with some red paint still left on it. I have cleaned all of the wood to get rid of the moss and lichen that was on it and now want to finish it properly.

Since there is still some paint on it and I am treating it like it is lead paint, I would like to add a finish to it. Not necessarily to change the look of the wood but to seal the paint in.

I've looked at satin poly, shellac, varathane, waterlox, etc. It seems like each one will darken the wood some (which I am ok with) but which finish would be the best?

I'm looking for a matte or low sheen finish that is easy to apply.

I do not have a sprayer so roller or brush is my method of application.

Any advice is appreciated!

[Jim Becker]

This material is pretty difficult to "finish"...I have a whole room full of it. It's unfinished. And hand applying will be a thankless task because of the nature of the surface. It would be best to spray it before installing...I know you said you don't currently have that capability, but it may be time to consider it.

[Art Mann]

I carve signs with barn wood like that on a CNC router fairly often. I usually seal the wood with spray lacquer before selling the piece. It gives it a slightly shiny look but still maintains the look of old wood. I don't know about spraying lacquer inside a house though. Maybe a water based alternative?

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the advice. I may look into the sprayer but since I may only use it for this project, it may not be cost effective.

The wood is stacked in my garage right now as I was planning on finishing it before install. I thought that would help keep some of the fumes out of the house and it might be easier to apply if I set up a bunch of tables and saw horses.

[Jim Becker]

Using a matte water borne finish deals with the fumes issue and sprays very forgivingly with a relatively modest sprayer. You should not spray solvent-based products without a proper environment. I know we keep saying 'spray', but the nature of the material is not friendly to brushing. And you can forget wiping or even a roller due to material from the applicator being picked up by the rough surface. I know this...from experience...

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks, Jim.
A friend of mine has an hvlp sprayer I can borrow. So far I've done a few tests on scraps with wipe on poly and shellac. My wife and I like how the Poly looks so I'm going to try a few pieces with the sprayer when I get it. I just have to figure out this thinning thing

[Wayne Lomman]

Doug, I built the verandah on our house out of reclaimed road bridge timber. It was heavily weathered. I applied water borne polyurethane by brush and it worked well. I applied 2 coats before the first sand and then a final coat. It is smooth to touch but has very little sheen. Its about 7 years old now and still good. The water borne polyurethane was a low odour one and didn't offend anyone. Cheers

[Jim Becker]

Shellac, while a wonderful finish for this in many respects is a "glossy" finish, so it's not going to give you the consistent (invisible) matte look I think you want. A water borne "poly" in a low/no sheen will and is very easy to spray with an HPLV setup. If your "wipe on" poly is oil based, reconsider using it because spraying oil based varnish is a very messy thing due to the sticky overspray. Spraying is best with fast "drying" finishes.

[Doug W Swanson]

Since I was able to use an HVLP sprayer, I went with Minwax Polycrylic. I've sprayed everything with one coat and so far I like the finish. Very easy to apply and it only took me about 4 or 5 hours over a couple of days. The stuff dried to the touch fairly fast so I was able to move the wood from my spray station in the garage out to my driveway until it dried completely (since the wood is rough, I wasn't too worried about dust ).

I may put another coat on once the wood is installed for so far I'm very happy with the results!

[Jim Becker]

Polycrylic sprays nicely...while I don't prefer it for "important" projects, I do use it for utility because it's so readily available. It's a decent choice for your application which when you boil things down, is more or less to seal the barn wood a little without changing the look.