First we recommend you follow the guidelines of the National Wood Flooring Association. Here are some very abbreviated suggestions: If installing over a wood substrate above grade, we recommend both nailing/stapling in the nail groove along with flooring mastic or construction adhesive. Less nails can be used than a standard nailing pattern if using mastic. If installing over concrete we recommend using full mastic and a vapor barrier. There are products now that include this in one step. Following the mastic manufacturers recommendation for trowel notch size. The mastic will make the floor very permanent with no give, movement, or squeaks. Our product is presanded so after install it may require no sanding or just spot sanding to your preferences. We still recommend a light buff between coats of finish. See below for more finish recommendations.
Usually, No, but we can offer advice and techniques on applications of certain products that we have tested. We have researched and tested what we believe is the best combination of finishes that are easy to apply, durable, low VOC, user friendly, environmentally friendly, and look the best on our materials. We will be glad to send you extra material to experiment with different finishes and techniques.
The door needs to be sealed ASAP upon receiving it, but in our experience it is best to do the final finishes by your local painter after the crating, shipping, and install.
Most importantly is that the doors need to be sealed soon upon arrival; protect them from changes in temperature and moisture. Also they should be stored in a manner that is perfectly vertical or flat so as to not be subjected to warping. If you do not want to do final coats until later, that is fine, but an early seal coat is important. Do not expose unsealed doors to humidity, temperature fluctuations, unconditioned environment, paint or drywall curing, or sun. Also store perfectly flat and supported or vertical; do not store for long periods where they could sag or warp.
Here are some options to do finishing. First lay the door flat on sawhorses. Make sure it is dusted and sanded the way you want it. Check for any cross grain scratches on rails and soften corners to your satisfaction.
The most commonly used finish combination for interior doors is an oil based stain, followed by sanding sealer, and oil based lacquer. We prefer a dull rub five degree lacquer. The advantages of lacquer are nice build, fast dry, easy sanding, commonly used and available. The disadvantage is the odor.
Our favorite combination to bring out the beauty in the wood and have a more user friendly product is the following detailed description. Start with one coat of Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish. This coat gives the rich, warm, depth, and amber color. The later coats would look dull and plain without this coat. If you choose to stain or darken your wood you can either tint this product or substitute a stain for it. This finish will go bad once you open the can. Retailers sell a product called Bloxygen that is an inert gas and will keep unused Waterlox from turning bad. It is important to let this dry a long time- longer than recommended before moving to the next coats. All you have to do with this coat is get the wood evenly wet. It will soak in with varying degrees from board to board but you can ignore that. Wait about 10 minutes for the product to soak in after coating it initially and with clean cotton rag wipe off any excess and polish very minimally. Then after a couple hours or when it is tack free with help flip the door over and do the other side. Do not wait too long before finishing both sides as it will cup panels if you leave the door unevenly sealed and make sure to do top and bottoms. This product has some VOC odor, so you need good ventilation and/or respirator. Temperature needs to be over 55 degrees. The advantage of using Waterlox under water based finishes is that it is not water based so it will not raise the grain causing more sanding; it will also enhance the colors of the wood. Second, move on to one coat of EF Sanding Seal by General Finishes. Before starting this wait as long as possible, preferably four plus days for a cure. The Waterlox is oil based and these other products are water based. When applying these coats make sure it is a dust free environment and no wind. Do not touch these coats until they are completely dry. Let this sealer coat cure about five plus hours, and when it is hard you can sand it. It is best to hand sand only with a fine sanding sponge and after it is not gummy at all. Just sand it well enough to get rid of hairs, dimples, rag fibers, and so forth. Do not sand through finish. Do all sides of the door. Third use Poly/Acrylic Matte. To make this product tougher you can add General Finishes’ Cross Linker (especially if you are doing table tops). If you are really worried about durability substitute the High Performance water based for the poly/acrylic. Do two plus coats of this. It is up to you if you want to sand between these coats. If you are going to do this yourself and use a brush, then make sure it is in good shape; an HVLP gun is the best applicator. We prefer not too much of a build that looks caked on, but we like to do a little bit heavier build of finish in rough texture areas to make the product feels smooth and protects against slivers. More coats will just make it feel smoother.
If you have the time to wait for it to cure, you can use just three plus coats of Waterlox Original satin sealer for a complete finished door. Make sure to wipe of excess oil (about 20-40 minutes after applying) before it turns gummy between coats. To get a smooth finish buff lightly between coats with a sanding sponge after previous coat completely hard and dried. The advantages of this finishing process are that it is one product, easy to repair scratches, and can be brushed or wiped on. The disadvantages of this are it takes much longer to cure and has odor until fully cured. You should consult Waterlox's website for further information. Take special note to read the Dry time of Waterlox Original Tung oil finishes.
The above recommendations are for interior doors only. For exteriors we prefer not to use typical urethane based products because they tend to yellow with age. We have not done much testing in exterior applications. Waterlox makes exterior glossy oil that can be used on its own. You could also use the above technique and substitute General Finishes High Performance Polyurethane Satin or Exterior 450 Satin for the final coats. For the most common type of application on exterior doors by professional painters we recommend the following: M.L. Campbell's Euro X, Prothane from Rudd, or Prolane from Sherwin Williams as a final top coat for a quick drying and durable finish; these finishes tend to have less problems with yellowing over time; these three finishes should be applied with a spray gun. Whatever finish you use it needs to be reapplied more often than the manufacture states that it will last. It is not unusual to have to do touch up coats on exterior wood doors every two to three years. Sometimes on new wood it needs to be redone after the first year. Sun is the greatest enemy to wood finishes. Wood doors need complete 100% protection from sun and water; do not depend on your finish to do this work on its own.
Note of caution- Do not use water based finishes (even if applied over oil based sealer coat) on pickle wood or any wood that may have salts, brine, or oil in it. Although we like water based finishes for the user friendly safe aspect and quick drying, oil based finishes as a whole and lacquer seem to have more predictable and perfect results when used by a professional. Since reclaimed lumber's previous life was sometimes unknown, one may get more finish failures and undesirable results with water based finishes.
Here are some common mistakes with finishing reclaimed lumber:
ALWAYS TEST your finish before doing the whole door or floor.Softwoods and rougher textures will take and soak up more finish than hardwoods and smoother sanded textures. If the wood is taking the finish, you need to put as much on as it will accept (especially on the first coat). This will make the finish harder and more durable. Don't be surprised if your coverage is nowhere near as much as the manufacturer states it should be. For example, our skip sanded softwood floor may take five coats and our smooth sanded oak might be done in three coats. This also varies with the type of finish. Waterlox and tung oil products take more coats. Heavy polyurethane floor finishes may take less coats.Buff and sand lightly between coats. This along with enough coats of finish will make the product more user friendly and less likely to snag or have splinters.With Waterlox and other "soaking, rubbing oil" type finishes it is more difficult to get a build that covers rough wood fibers and prevents slivers. It will take more coats. Make sure to wipe off excess finish in areas that it is not soaking in after it has been allowed to set for 30 minutes or so; this will prevent the "gummy" effect that happens to tung oil based products where they do not want to dry.Make sure to budget extra time to cure between coats. Since you may be putting on heavier coats, it may take longer to cure.Always follow finish manufacturer’s directions.Your finishing results are going to be less predictable with reclaimed lumber, too.
We do not warranty any of these recommendations. We are not liable for any of the undesirable results from finishing results or following these options. It is recommended you always experiment with a sample before applying any finish to the product. Personal preferences vary greatly and there are an infinite number of finish combinations to achieve different results. It is up to the customer to make sure the door and flooring is properly sanded and prepared to receive finish, too.
First we always recommend testing before doing the whole floor. Generally finishing a floor requires more experience and sometimes more professional equipment than the install. We always recommend lower sheens such as a matte or satin. When choosing a finish consider the whole life of the floor. With this consider the durability of the finish, how it will be touched up or repaired, and if one has to hire a professional finisher to do touch-ups. This is too hard to answer completely in this forum but we will give you a handful of thoughts, opinions, and generalizations on finish types.
Waterborne finishes such as Glitsa Infinity II or Bona Traffic- low VOC, may take 3-4 coats, does not darken or enhance the color of the wood as much/ more natural appearance, requires buffing between coats, quick dry and quick application, do not use over pickle wood or any wood that may have oil, salts, brines or other contaminates in it.
Swedish or oil based poly urethanes- higher VOC, takes longer for smell to dissipate, 2 coats, harder to refinish or do spot touch ups (usually have to sand an refinish entire floor), darkens and enhances the color, requires buffing between coats, most common type of finish and what majority of the professionals use, not our preferred product for textured floors or "healthy or green concerned" applications.
Waterlox or tung oil- requires less buffing or no buffing between coats, 4-6 coats, long time to cure and for smell to go away, long finishing process between coats such as up to 10 days depending on conditions, easy to touch up, easy to apply, enhances and darkens color. Here is an excellent application guide.
Rubio Monocoat or one coat natural oils- low VOC, one coat, lots of color options and unique dyes, high coverage, easier for amateur to install, only recommended over smooth sanded floors, not recommended over textured floors because finish will not build or protect from slivers, easy to repair, natural appearance, moderately slow cure time, less expensive when factoring in number of coats and labor.
Hard wax oil or Osmo- slightly more difficult to install than previous two, low VOC, easy to repair, may not be as durable as previous two, expensive.
To summarize, we generally prefer penetrating oil finishes or "repairable" finishes over traditional film or polyurethane finishes. The penetrating finishes protect better from within the board by bonding with the wood fibers. Touch-ups and repairs are easier and less costly. A floor is going to get damaged and need to be repaired; this is why we like a site applied finish that is easy to work with. Our flooring gets sent out unfinished, so you can choose how you want to finish it after installing it.
Almost any finish will change the of plain raw wood when finish is applied. Generally oil based finishes will change the look more than water based finishes. Oil based finishes will darken such as turn grey to black; it will also amber by turning wood tones brighter and colors will pop. Straight water based poly acrylic such as General Finishes tends to change the wood the least. Several coats of this will help encapsulate slivers if buffing between coats and make it feel smooth but look textured. Also use as dull of a sheen as possible to avoid the glossy look. Always test a sample.
Our warranty on our products is void if the product is not finished and maintained. We would never recommend not finishing any exterior door especially. If the customer doesn't want the look of finish on an interior door, though, that would be more acceptable. They just need to understand it could be more likely to warp and feel rough to the touch.
Paneling is also less in need of a finish. We still recommend finishes, though, even for that to seal and protect the wood. One thing to consider is that one doesn't know the complete previous history of reclaimed lumber. If it was in a barn it was certainly exposed to lots of dust and animals. Finishing it seals in some of the "unknown" particulates still present on the wood.
We offer a number of different options to sort material and build the door from grey lumber. To keep the grey color consistent we have to use what we call full rough original texture which means that we will not mill the face of the door. The outside of the door will maintain all original color and texture. We still have to color the edges of the door to hide the fresh sawn marks.
Sometimes this original texture is not a good option because it costs a little more because of greater difficulty in the manufacturing process. Also since it is rougher, than that means that it won’t feel as smooth compared to a more sanded and machined door.
So how do we convert a machined door that has freshly machined faces to grey? The first option and most natural is to mix rust flakes with half water and half vinegar. Steel wool can be an easy substituted for rust if left to sit for a week or so in water. Let this solution sit for several days than brush it on the wood; it must go on raw wood. This is a premature aging process. You will see results within 30 minutes. Be aware that it will raise the grain, and you should let the material dry thoroughly before applying finish over the top. Do not soak the wood too much. Make sure to do all sides of the door at one time. Allow good airflow around entire door and let dry several days before applying top coats. Clean door well before spraying on clear coats. Spray on 2-3 clear coats and hand sand between coats with sanding sponge. The drawbacks of this process is that different boards take the color sporadically. Some boards, especially ones high in pitch, will not change color hardly at all. The color will be varied greatly if different types of material are in your piece (this can be a desirable result but be prepared for it). This process is the most unpredictable and random for results.
A second option is to use a dye called J.E. Moser’s Aniline Dye Stain. This is a powder that can be added to a number of different finishes, water, varnishes, lacquer, etc. We dissolve it in denatured alcohol and apply it with a paint brush as the first coat before the sealer. There are three different types that can either be dissolved in lacquer thinner, alcohol, or water. Also, a little bit of powder dye goes a long ways. This option is more repeatable and dependable than the previous vinegar solution.
Finally you can use any kind of stain that you like. This usually acts as the first sealer coat, too. This will tend to mask all variation and existing colors the most of these options. You can choose all different kinds of sealers or washes from water to solvent based and translucent to opaque. For a more natural look brush it on. Also if you are creative you can blend colors and use multiple colors to create depth.
With all of these options, always thoroughly test the whole process before applying on the finished product. See other answers on finish recommendation to go over these color coats. To keep the color the same use water based polycrylic finish.
Slightly less than 2". If you install our Low Profile Mini V Track it requires 1 7/8" over the top of the door slab including clearance to operate. Realize this is over the door not the opening. A general principle from floor to ceiling is that you have 1/2" gap under the door plus the height of the door plus 1 7/8", so to fit door and track you need about 2 1/2" of height floor to ceiling in addition to the height of your door slab.
Every product listing has installation instructions and videos in the individual product listing that you purchase from. It is highlighted in yellow and bold letters in the center of the page under the thumbnail pictures. Read these instructions thoroughly before ordering and starting install.
Our low profile track system has the lowest clearance and takes 1 7/8" room to fit everything above the door. Our flat track barn door hardware has great flexibility, requires less room than standard kits and needs only 4 1/2" over moving door.
Our thin wood wall paneling on interior installation can be done with one or the other or both. We recommend using polyurethane construction adhesive from a caulking gun. Ideally you would use that and as few nails as possible. Only use 18 gauge brad nails and where you need them to hold until the adhesive can cure. The glue will hold better than nails and look better. You can see our options for different blends of the wall and ceiling barn wood planks in stock and pre boxed for easy shipping.
Sometimes. Our recommended installation for best performance where nails and glue can hold is to go over plywood or OSB. If it is a remodel and you don't want to install plywood because of hassle or defeat the benefit of thin wood wall paneling then ideally paint light colored sheetrock a dark color and use polyurethane construction adhesive to attach the wood planks to the drywall. One is more likely to have problems when installing over sheetrock instead of plywood.
