what type varnish ?

[george07]

i have stained my skirtings medium oak followed by a water based varnish both from wickes...my joiner strongly suggests using an oil based varnish as my final coat of varnish rather than the water based 1 that i have used in the 1st bedroom ive done(2 to do still) should i take his advice and go and buy some of this or is the wickes water based varnish sufficient ? surely they wouldnt sell it otherwise...if i need to purchase an oil based varnish what do you guys reccomend/where from etc cheers again

 

[misterhelpful]

You will find that an awful lot of off the shelf varnishes are now water based and are a lot better than when they were first produced. I have used the Wickes medium oak that you have and must admit it isn't one of the easiest to apply evenly but after a few coats it gets better and is fairly hard wearing.
However, an oil/solvent based PU varnish will be far more serviceable and hard wearing and gives a much smoother finish, especially a gloss one.
I find Johnstones is pretty good but the colours are only available in a gloss finish. http://www.decoratingwarehouse.co.uk/buy/woodstains/varnishes/johnstones-polyurethane-varnish/79
You could use the Wickes varnish if you like the colour and finish it with a clear polyurethane.

 

[george07]

cheers again mister... i also did purchased a solvent based varnish(local timber merchants) but made a slight mistake of not noticing that it was a satin finish! tried it on the small bedroom and its a far too shiny finish..think it was blackfriar...take it the gloss is the opposite then..duller finish etc...+ the wickes varnish i got is a clear varnish...will the likes of b & q do this johnstones varnish ? & finally whats the clear polyurethane you mention

 

[misterhelpful]

You won't get Johnstones at B&Q - you'll probably need to go to an independent decorators merchants or order online.

Gloss is much shinier than satin, so if you find satin too shiny then I would suggest using a matt finish polyurethane or just stick with the Wickes stuff that you already have - it's not that bad.

You can use the Wickes medium oak as I suggested for the colour and just coat it with any brand clear polyurethane, which is just the oil based varnish recommended by your joiner. I think B&Q do Dulux Trade matt poly http://www.icipaints.co.uk/products/info/dulux_trade_polyurethane_varnish.jsp or Wickes do their own brand but only in gloss or satin http://www.wickes.co.uk/professional-interior-varnish-satin/invt/170758/ which may be what you already have.

Decisions, decisions!!