Bare pine doors need to be varnished

[serge33]

whats a good coloured varnish to use on three new doors we have had fitted, i will be varnishing them in the garage as we ahev a baby so really a varnish that can take drying somewhere that may not be 100% dry and not heated is needed.

thinking Ronseal diamond, do they need to be thinned at all??

all advice welcome, have never varnished totally new wood before.

 

[Zampa]

You need to thin the first coat..thats crutial.

Dont spend too much time rubbing them down before you varnish..the grain will raise up again once they are varnished anyway.

Go for oil not water based varnish..water based stuff can look a little pale..oil brings out the colour in the wood.

Always rub in the direction of the grain, otherwise you will scratch it.

 

[Robbie uk]

If your hoping to put a colour on , don't use a stain varnish. better to use a seperate stain, then rub down and put on several coats of clear polyurethene varnish, harder than yaght varnish and sand between coats. the stain varnish can go patchy when being applied as its trying to stain and varnish at the same time, which it doesn't do very well.

 

[Zampa]

Yeh, I agree with that..I use oil based wood dye with a drop of varnish in it to make it go further and raise the grian of the wood..rub down with 320 grade abrasive paper and a coiuple of coats of satin varnish

Coloured stains look awful...they show every brushmark and have a poor final finish.