Gloss base urethane under satin top coat?

[Andrew Wayland]

I hear a lot of ya'll use gloss urethane in several layers before adding a final layer of satin or semi-gloss.

Im curious what benefit this method has, if any.

[Robert Maloney]

From what I've been told from many other finishers here is to use gloss up to your final coat. That's because the elements in the finish used to diffuse light and or sheen can muddy a the finish and not show grain or figure clearly. There are none of these elements in gloss finishes. I'm sure some more experienced finishers can better explain this, but that is basically how I understand it.

[Barry McFadden]

I agree with Robert.... the satin will start to obscure the wood grain. If you look in a can of gloss varnish you can see right through it but a can of satin varnish looks cloudy.

[Andrew Wayland]

So if I needed to build up coats: instead of buying more semi-gloss: I could get away with buying a gallon of ARS gloss, and finishing with whatever sheen I feel? (Even if I started with a coat or two of semi-gloss?).

[Russ Kupiec]

I agree. I recently switched(after a seminar with Rollie Johnson of FWW) to this method(gloss undercoats, satin top coat) with both waterlox sequence and Minwax wipe-on sequence. The results speak for themselves. I also think the gloss coats build up faster and harder than multiple coats of satin. I do thin the first couple of coats and scuff between them. Much more clarity of grain and IMHO a lot more surface protection. Multiple satin coats are softer than gloss.

[William Fretwell]

I agree. I recently switched(after a seminar with Rollie Johnson of FWW) to this method(gloss undercoats, satin top coat) with both waterlox sequence and Minwax wipe-on sequence. The results speak for themselves. I also think the gloss coats build up faster and harder than multiple coats of satin. I do thin the first couple of coats and scuff between them. Much more clarity of grain and IMHO a lot more surface protection. Multiple satin coats are softer than gloss.

True, the fillers in satin weaken the finish. You can also just rub the gloss with 0000 wire wool and wax polish to get a satin finish.

[Wayne Lomman]

Guys, you are making work for yourselves. The amount of flattening agents in a coating are invisible to the human eye at the thickness you put on a job and durability of gloss over satin is only a factor in exterior finishes. Your polishing technique has more impact on both of these. Cheers

[John TenEyck]

I agree with Wayne. Unless you are applying a really thick coating you won't see any difference. If I understood it correctly, the OP is using semi gloss anyway, and you'll never see a difference with using gloss for the base coats.

FWIW, this is Arm-R-Seal semi gloss on curly maple, probably 4 coats.




John