| Author | Message | ||
| Greg Roberts (Gregeagle20)
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Guys, I really need your opinions on something. The inside walls and ceiling of my Eagle are all nice grade ash. I have yet to pick a stain color to finish the ash material and I really need you guys that aren't taste challenged like me to give me your opinions. I like darker wood stains but some have mentioned that it might "close in" the space. Opinions? Also, what should I do in terms of varnish/sealer. Help me guys!! | ||
| Jack Conrad (Jackconrad)
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Greg, The "best" color is in the eye of the beholder, or as FestFred says "do it your way". Darker colors will make the area look smaller and darker. Our first bus was stained with MinWax Special Walnut. Our present bus is stained with MinWax Golden Pecan. The interior looks much bigger and brighter. As far as finishes, we have always had good luck with the MinWax oil base stains and their Polyurethane finishes. We use the satin polyurethane finish. The higher the gloss of the finish, the more imperfections (dings, dents, etc.)in the wood will show. I usually use 1 coat of stain and 3 coats of polyurethane. I use a 3M scuff pad between coats of polyurethane | ||
| Kyle Brandt (Kyle4501)
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Greg, do you have any left over ash from the project? If so, make a decent size panel, or 3, to put different stains on to see how it looks inside your coach. (one stain per panel will show the color better.) Personally, I prefer the honey or blond colors, but the oak floor in my home kitchen is stained a burgandy color & it looks great. The rest of the house oak flooring is an amber color from a solvent based urethane clear coat, no stain, & we like it too. The other colors in the furnishings will have an impact too & should also be considered. You might do well to have an interior decorator look at it & give some suggestions. kyle4501 | ||
| truthhunter@shaw.ca Rating: N/A |
I agree with "dark colors close in fast" and make for a dark room no matter how many lights you turn on or windows you have. While it may be possible to re stain a light color darker (if it hasn't been sealed yet) it is not so easily to lighten up a dark stain. If you are unsure of what you want, you might try a light stain that you like and try living with that for a while. If you are happy , seal it up. If not dark enough put another color over it ( practice on a piece of scrap first to make sure the dry/set color overcoat is what you want on the second try before you re stain the interior) | ||
| niles steckbauer (Niles500)
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If it's going on all four walls and your looking at samples - it's a good idea to go a shade or 2 lighter - 'cause when it goes up it's darker - FWIW | ||
| coolbus Rating: N/A |
One thing I plan on doing when I get to that point is to use a "whitewash" type of treatment to the woodwork. I like to see the natural grain of the wood. All the conversions with painted white wood look very nice and bright. I will keep with the same idea of white, but it will allow the grain to show thru. As of yet, I don't know the process, but have been told that it is pretty easy to accomplish. I think one of the names of this type of treatment is called 'pickling' This gives me the advantage of having something in-between paint and stain, with a nice bright interior. Mark coolbus | ||
| H3-40 Rating: N/A |
greg I used Minwax polyurethane stain like Jack. It's probably a little dark for most as it's mahoganny but we only stained the trim around windows and doors. The bottom half of the walls and all cabinetry are mahoganny laminate that has a very slight reddish tint. The walls are accented with an off white textured wall paper on the upper half. These two colors are seperated by a stained chair rail moulding. The ceiling will be real close in color to the upper half of the walls. So far everything is coming together. As Niles said in an earlier post, it's starting to look like a library in an upscale home. Not exactly what I intended but you end up with what you end up with, I guess!  Try some different colors to go with your furniture, cabinets, and window treatments. You'll know it's the right one for you when you see it! Ace | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Greg - Kyle made a good suggestion regarding using a "sample" piece to test stains on. With the restoration of antique pieces, we test on scraps until we hit the right color match. It's a time consuming process, but it beats ending up with what you didn't want. Wetting the existing wood (with or without stain), can give you an indication of what the color tone will look like, when it's sealed. For antiques, we use McCloskey's "satin eggshell" varnish. It's nearly as impervious to water as polyurethane, but has a nice, rich satin finish that appears to be a mile deep. I would strongly advise a visit to a large RV dealer, just to look, and take notes. Grab literature, and use the pictures as a guide. The commercial manufacturers try to make the rigs look as big as possible, using the right colors.. It's worth noting how they do it! It'll look great, no matter what. Don't worry...Enjoy! | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
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If you have really nice grain and want to see it well you can use a water stain. You will probably have to order it by mail or internet. It is analine dyes that you disolve in hot water and paint on wipe off. They penetrate the wood but have no opaque pigments like oil stains. The water stain raises whiskers on the wood that you take off after it dries with a light quick pass with 400 or 600 sandpaper. Then apply any finish you like. Probably polyurethane sprayed on. You will need to look at a woodworking supply website to find it. It is not found in hardware stores. If your would has imperfections you would like to camoflage, oil stains are better. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Minwax also makes a water-based stain. | ||
| R.C. Bishop
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True John, but what Steve is talking about is a premium, furniture mfg. stain. As he indicates, it is a specialty stain that is both easy and difficult to use. The soundness of the grain and is the key. Imperfections show up fast and big time. Then, of course, there is bleaching and all manner of other controls that one can use...... KISS. FWIW RCB |