Finsh help!

[Darren Albert]

I am in need of some advice. I am tryimg to find a way to darken the trim around an entry door. Looks like it has Poly on it, is there anything I can put over the poly to darken it.

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This was done by the PO of the house and i'd like to try and even it out some.

Darrem

[G Douglas Fowler]

Gel stain.

[Darren Albert]

Gel stain will work ontop of poly?

[Scott Holmes]

A good scuff sanding (220 or so) will be needed.

Another approach that will not hide the grain as much as gel stain is a toner, clear finish with color added. I DO NOT recommend Minwax polyshades. This in not a place or project to learn how to use a toner.

[Rich Engelhardt]

A gel or pigmented stain can go over old varnish or poly. It can even go over a painted surface using a technique known as graining.

In all honesty though, I don't feel it's worth the effort for one door.

Just pull the trim and replace it & start over with fresh wood.
Run a utility knife down the edges between the casing and the wall to break any seal the poly or the paint on the walls may have created.
That's only a few dollars worth of plain simple - nothing special - casing.
Use the old casing as a guide for the proper size & miters & reveals.
A local lumber yard should have it. I pay ~ $.49 a foot for Poplar casing. Clear Pine is a bit higher.

A gel or pigmented stain will cover the old, but, a lot of that "pink" is going to come through.
(I assume the reason behind wanting to change the color is to bring it more in line with the browner baseboards.)

You can use the gel or pigmented stain on the bare wood of the new casing and also on the old threshold.

FWIW - in less time than it took me to type this, I could have measured, cut and nailed new casing around that door - and I'm not a slow typer and quick trim carpenter.
I just happened to have trimmed out a door a week ago. My wife thought it would take a long time and I just wanted to show her how quick it was.

[Darren Albert]

Thanks for the help!
I'm going to give the gel stain a try, if that fails ill go ahead and replace it...

[Peter Froh]

Dye some shellac and brush it on. Once you have dialed in the colour you want then you can topcoat the shellac with something more protective. Shellac will adhear to almost anything from my understanding.