Refinishing Cherry Handrail

[Shawn Siegrist]

My parents have a solid cherry handrail that is exposed to alot of direct sunlight. The original owner built the handrail and finished it with poly. Over the years sunlight has faded and bleached the handrail to various shades of yellow and cream. They would like to sand it down and refinish but there are areas that they can't get a sander into. Can anyone recommend a stain or finish that will add some color to the areas that can't be sanded? Can anyone recommend a finish for the entire handrail that will help prevent the fading and bleaching, I'm guessing that they would need something with a UV blocker in it?

Thanks,
Shawn

[Steve Schoene]

Best to remove the old varnish with stripper, and then sand to refresh the color. A sander would hardly be needed, hand sanding can get in almost anywhere. For really tight places the foam core nail "files" work well and can even be shaped to fit a particular profile. Even though sanding can be hard work, it is much easier than trying to match a new finish by glazing over an old finish.

UV blocking finishes only have a limited period of effectiveness. The best of them are true marine spar varnishes, but I think of them as being a bit soft for use on stair rails. The UV absorbers are "used up" as the do their jobs. I'd rather use shellac. Maybe a little more shade, or coated double pane windows to reduce the intensity of the UV.

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thanks for the info, unfortunately the railing was sealed with poly so there isn't an easy way to get it off.


Shawn

[Conrad Fiore]

A solid CHERRY handrail that bleached out and got lighter with exposure to the light? Cherry should do the exact opposite with exposure to light.

[Shawn Siegrist]

In the begining cherry will darken with exposure, but eventually the sun does to cherry what it does to everything else, it bleaches it out. This handrail has probably been in place for 20 plus years.

[Steve Schoene]

Poly comes off the same as other varnishes when you use a methyl chloride stripper. Yes, you do have to lay down a bunch of plastic to protect stairs, balusters, and walls, but the stripper will loosen the varnish enough you can scrape it off. Certainly is messy, but it shouldn't be really difficult. You may have to be a bit inventive to find scrapers of the right shape to get into out of the way places.

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thanks for the info!

[Jim Becker]

Relevant to Steve's last post, Polyurethane Varnish is...just varnish. It's not magical or anything. The polyurethane resin imbues a little more abrasion resistance than other resins typically used. It's a great finish for floors and other things that are subject to abuse, such as that railing. But it will come off very nicely with a methyl chloride stripper as Steve mentions just like any other varnish.