A: I must admit that this makes very little sense, since waterbased finish has almost no odor at all, other than a faint ammonia scent, even when you sniff the can. Once it dries, which happens overnight, it is pretty much odorless. Thus, I have a sneaking suspicion that what you are smelling is something other than the finish. If you told me what it smells like, that might help, but in any case, it would be wise to figure out what is causing the odor first. That way you can arrive at the best plan to eliminate it. For instance, there are general sealers that block odors, the best one being Zinsser SealCoat, but if the smell is coming from mildew or mold growth, you must kill the mold or mildew before sealing the wood.

A: Best? The best would be a moisture cured urethane, but it is not easy to come by. Offhand, I know of only one company in Brooklyn, NY currently selling it, and they sell primarily to the industry, not to homeowners. The product is extremely durable in that sort of setting, but because of the chemical involved, must be handled both with great care and proper safety equipment. By the way, I will assume you are back down to bare wood, since this finish is not appropriate over an existing finish. On the other hand, if you prefer something less than the best, but still quite adequate and more accessible, you can go with oil based polyurethane or spar varnish. As Hallack Brendan once said, “sometimes the best becomes the enemy of the good.”

A: You can use double stick carpet tape for both the foam and the Masonite. It comes in different grades with different levels of adhesive. Obviously, you want a durable one with thick adhesive designed for the materials you are using. Expect to pay more for it, and make sure you go to a tape company that has good support advice. I’d choose 3M or Henkel (they make Duck brand, and are at www.duckproducts.com) Removal will be tedious, but most tapes release with mineral spirits, and that won’t harm the vinyl. You can paint the Masonite with any floor paint, and yes, there are epoxy based floor paints made for this if you need that durability. However, since painting one side only can cause warping, I’d seal both sides before laying the boards. As for the gap, 5% is more than enough, and for a room that does not get extreme swings in humidity, much less will do. Since you did not tell me the size of the room or the humidity ranges, you will have to do the math yourself.

A: First, if lacquer was used, you would most likely not smell it after five days. This suggests there is something else going on. The only smell that comes off lacquer after one day is the odor of the plasticizer, which is what is called “new car smell” in automobiles. It may not be pleasant, but it is not harmful. If I had to guess what is really going on, I would say that someone stained the interior with an oil based stain, then left it unsealed. Oils used in finishing can smell for weeks if they are not sealed, but again, while they may smell offensive, they are not harmful. After all, anchovies smell awful to some people, but they are not harmful either.

That brings us to what you can do about it. First, ascertain if the smell is coming solely from unsealed internal areas, such as drawer sides and case interiors. If so, you can seal all these interior areas with Zinsser SealCoat, which will block both the smell and any fumes that you can’t smell. If not, you may have to seal the entire piece, but before doing that, make sure you know for certain what was used and why it still smells. You did not provide me with enough information to troubleshoot this long distance, but your carpenter should be able to provide you with more precise information. If need be, you can call and I will be happy to consult on the issue, but make sure you have all the information before you call.

A: There are no laws regarding what quality of finishing work you may and may not sell, so therefore, there are no independent inspectors as such. To have a failed finish you must first have universally agreed upon pass and fail standards, and as far as finishing goes, there are none. Finishing is the wild west in that regard.

However, on a number of occasions I have been hired as an expert witness in court cases regarding a finish that one party felt was inferior, and was therefore seeking monetary damages. Many companies, to forestall such cases, do have quality control inspectors, but that’s strictly internal; they answer to the standards their company set up, which may or may not be the same as the standard the customer expects.

A: Even though I have not seen it, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that what you are seeing is not what you think it is. Opaque stains do not work well on rosewood, and it is for good reason that no one attempts that. However, when rosewood is exposed to light, it fades to a light brown, but the darker figure lines remain. What results is exactly what you have described. The fading is relatively shallow, and sanding it re-exposes the original dark color; again fitting in with what you have described.

There are three things you can do, and all three require complete removal of the current finish. Sand the rosewood headstock overlay until it is all dark, and let the fading process start over; bleach the rosewood, then stain whatever color you want; or stain the rosewood with a very strong yellow orange dye. That third one may or may not get you all the way to the color you want, but it will mimic sun fading at least to a limited degree.

Q: I recently made an octagonal table top out of leftover red oak flooring. I wiped an oil based red mahogany penetrating stain on the sanded, raw wood. When I put on the second coat there appeared one strip about an inch wide where the stain just wiped off leaving an unsightly light area in contrast to the deep color of the rest of the table top. There is some variation in color and shade, obviously, from board to board, which I expected and am fine with, but this area is almost the shade of the raw wood and sticks out like a sore thumb. What can I do?
A: The easiest way to blend colors after staining is with tinted topcoat applied between the first and second coats of clear finish. You can mix your own or buy some finishes, such as polyurethane, already in tinted form, both in liquid and aerosol versions. Some companies, like Varathane, match their tinted polyurethanes to their wood stains, making blending a fairly easy task.

Q: What is a good, sprayable gloss finish for a bass guitar made of several woods?
A: Lacquer is certainly the most user friendly for instruments. It is easy to apply, repair and buff, and it dries quickly. Because you are using multiple woods, it would be wise to seal the instrument first with one coat of Zinsser SealCoat.

Q: How do I stop the oil from coming out of woods like wenge, cocobolo and rosewood when I apply lacquer?
A: The term oily wood is a misnomer. While some woods are highly resinous, there is no oil in wood, so there is no oil to come out. Some woods may bleed color, meaning the color can migrate into the lacquer. Usually, that’s not a serious issue, but if it is, seal the wood first with a coat of Zinsser SealCoat. Once it dries, it should block further bleeding. Incidentally, wenge is neither particularly resinous nor likely to bleed, though the other two, both of which are dalbergias, are resinous and will bleed color.

Q: I plan to sand interior mahogany doors with 180 and 220 grit, stain one coat, let it dry, sand it with 320 grit, then apply three coats of polyurethane, sanding between these coats with 320 grit. After the final finishing coat, let it dry and cure for one month then follow your recommend scrubbing process, sanding 1000 grits and 000 steel wool with paste wax and then buff it with buffer. Is the right process for interior doors?
A: Nope. Let’s go through this a step at a time, starting with sanding. Unless someone else already sanded the door to 120 or 150, you need to start with a coarser paper than 180. Typically, we start sanding at 80 and go up from there. You can stop at 180 garnet, or 220 AlOx.
Stain should be flooded on liberally, then wiped off completely, leaving only what the wood has absorbed. Never sand after staining, since it will remove the stain you just applied, and do it unevenly at that.
Once the stain is dry, apply your finish at the rate of one coat per day. Sand between coats only if you need to in order to smooth roughness, dust nibs or brush marks. Otherwise, sanding between coats is not necessary as long as the next coat goes on the next day.
To rub to satin, wait a couple of weeks, remove any dust nibs with 400 or 500 grit paper, then rub with the grain using 0000 steel wool lubricated with paste wax. For gloss, wait six weeks, sand through the grits from 600 to 1200 or higher, then rub with automotive rubbing and polishing compounds.

Q: I am trying to refinish an oak floor that is in a home built around 1960. It has a clear finish, but when I start sanding with the ezV sander, the finish clumps, sticks to the sandpaper and clogs. I have no idea what the finish is, but I am looking for suggestions on removing it so that I don’t have to stop every couple of minutes and scrape the flakes off the sandpaper.
A: The ezV sander is very user friendly, but not very aggressive. You might want to switch to a more aggressive type of sander, such as a drum sander, to remove the finish. That allows you to use a coarser paper at first, such as 24 grit. There’s no easy way to avoid clogging if you are removing a soft finish, but there are methods other than sanding. For instance, scraping off the finish with a ship’s scraper, then sanding afterwards, is more labor intensive but less frustrating. The same is true of stripping the floor first with paint remover; messier and smellier, but it does eliminate clogging expensive paper.

Michael Dresdner
www.michaeldresdner.com
Metaphors be with you.

Q: I have been finishing raw, white ash chairs for years with Varathane polyurethane thinned with equal parts mineral spirits. I am thinking of using Watco Danish Oil as a first coat to speed up the process. Thoughts?
A: I generally avoid Danish oil on large pore wood, such as ash. It tends to bleed or weep out of the pores for hours afterwards, forcing you to continue wiping it for a day or more. If you want to speed up your finishing process, stop cutting the polyurethane so much. For brushing, you only need to cut it about 20%. For wiping, you don’t need to cut it at all; simply scrub it on with a nylon abrasive pad and wipe it off evenly. Try it on sanded scrap and you will see what I mean. It’s as easy as using gel urethane and gives you the same results.

Q: I have developed asthma and since then I have not been able to sleep in my bedroom because my chest of drawers has a wood smell when you open a couple of the drawers. My clothes in those drawers even pick up the smell. At first I thought it was the drawers. I took one out today and took it outside. When I came back in and smelled the opening left in the chest where the drawer had been, the smell was overwhelming. My husband doesn’t notice anything bothersome. Can you give me suggestions as to what to do?
A: First, let’s be clear on the fact that this is a medical question, not a finishing or wood question. As such, it is out of my realm. However, I will make a comment or two on the chest itself.
The insides of both the chest and drawers are usually not sealed, but they can be. While it is possible that you are reacting to the raw wood, my guess is that it may also be the accumulated dust that tends to cling to the wood.
One possibility is to have someone else (not you, since that will only exacerbate your reaction) remove the drawers and thoroughly clean both the raw wood of the drawers and the interior of the cabinet. Once the wood is cleaned, have them seal it with a coat of Zinsser SealCoat, and outstanding blocker for odors. SealCoat is pure shellac, and I have never run into anyone allergic to shellac, which is a good thing, since it is very widely used to coat vitamins, pharmaceuticals and candy. The only solvent in it is alcohol, and that evaporates in a couple of hours. By the next day you should not be getting any odor from it.
Again, this is just a suggestion to deal with odor. My advice is still to speak with your allergist or other doctor about your situation, but do share what I have said with him or her. Your health is what is important; if it comes down to it, ditch the chest.

Q: I want to apply oil based polyurethane as a wipe off. How many coats do you recommend?
A: That’s entirely up to you. One or two will give you a very natural looking wood, similar to what you get with Danish Oil. More coats will start to make the surface look more like a brushed or sprayed finish, with more sheen and a visible film. Obviously, more finish means more protection, but it comes down to the look you want and just how much wear the piece will get.

Q: If I scrub a coat of oil based polyurethane on with a nylon abrasive pad, then wipe off, how is the second coat applied?
A: Exactly the same way.

Q: What is best to use for wiping off finish coats evenly?
A: Personally, I use those blue Scott paper shop towels.

Q: I have loved Watco Oil finish for over 25 years. A solid oak coffee table finished in dark Watco Oil in 1985 has several areas in which the finish has been ruined. It’s been treated with Pledge and lemon oil over the years. I want to renew the finish, but dread sanding the entire piece in order to get a uniform color penetration. Considering the above, what do you suggest I do to renew my Watco Oil finish?
A: First, clean it thoroughly to remove any of the old polish and oil. Do that by scrubbing with mineral spirits on a white nylon abrasive pad and wiping repeatedly with paper shop towels. Repeat until they wipe clean. That will give you a clearer picture of how much of the problem was dirt and how much is wear. You can certainly go over the existing finish with another coat of dark Watco. If you are lucky, it will absorb more into the areas that are worn, thus evening up the color somewhat, but don’t count on being lucky. If that does not work, you have several other choices depending on what you want the table to look like when you are done. Try this first, and if the results don’t please you, write back and tell me how it looks, what you want, and how far you are willing to go to get it. From here on out, the work gets harder and messier.

Q: I bought an old table at a garage sale. I stripped it and stained it two different colors. I have too much stain on it. What can I use to remove some of the stain?
A: You can remove a lot of excess stain by scrubbing the wood with nylon abrasive pads and liberal amounts of lacquer thinner, wiping with paper shop towels as you go.
Please remember that staining means flooding on, then wiping it all off immediately, leaving only what the wood will absorb. If the wood absorbed too much doing it that way, whether or not you can remove it depends on exactly what type of stain it is. There are different ways to deal with dye and pigment, and also different methods for various solvents and vehicles (oil, acrylic, etc.) Thus, to remove stain that is absorbed, you need to know exactly what type it was.

Q: I am finishing 26 solid maple table tops for a friend who will use them in a restaurant. They are to be finished in latex primer for first coat, latex semi gloss for second coat, and 2 coats of metallic latex. Should these tops have a clear coat applied for maximum wear resistance after all these other coats?
A: Finish, like a chain, is only as strong as its weakest link, and in this case, that might be the latex. I say might because the term latex is used to mean waterbased paint in general. True latex is too soft and heat sensitive for a table top, and might move even though it were below a tougher or more brittle finish, causing cracking and delamination. Some waterbased acrylics would be much more durable, and adding a coat of clear waterbased polyurethane might help in some areas, such as the ability to resist stains. In general, though, non-cross linked waterbased coatings, whether latex, acrylic or polyurethane, have only a moderate resistance to heat and chemicals, and I am not sure I’d want that for a restaurant table.
If you have not yet done the tables, I’d strongly suggest you work from the top down; first choose the final finish for durability, then find color coats that are compatible with your topcoat. For the top coat I would choose a cross linked coating. These include catalyzed lacquer, conversion varnish, two part automotive urethanes and one package, self curing waterbased finishes. Some companies are now selling this last group for furniture, but most are sold as ultra-durable floor finishes, such as Bona Chemi Mega. Most floor finishes in particular have a wide compatibility with paints, but do choose something like a 100% acrylic rather than a true latex, and check with whatever company you choose to see what paints their finish will tolerate beneath it.

Q: I have a beautiful, simple cherry wood dining room table that has many stains on it. It does not have polyurethane on it. How do I refinish it?
A: Are you implying that it is completely unfinished? If so, you can probably simply clean it, sand it, remove the stains and finish. However, some finishes may not look like films, but may still be there in the wood. Thus, without seeing it, I’d suggest you go the whole refinishing route. Start with paint remover to take off any finish on or in the wood. Follow that with a scrub of lacquer thinner and another of mineral spirits, both wiped with paper shop towels, to ensure the wood is clean. Sand, then see which stains are left. It’s easier to remove them if you know what they are, and different stains require different removal methods. In addition, veneered wood has different options than solid wood.
Because refinishing is a more complicated ritual than product labels make it sound, I’d suggest you have a guide by your side for this project. Modesty aside, I think the best one is one of my books; The New Wood Finishing Book. It will walk you through this rather messy and confusing process step by step.