UV Fading with GF HP... please help.

[Bill Rodgers]

I completed a project a few months ago where I refinished a large bay window seat thanks to a lot of help I received on this forum. Please see the thread at…

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?226763-Re-finishing-Bay-Window-Seat-NEED-HELP

I’m starting to notice some discoloration that I’m assuming is UV fading where the area directly beneath an item on the seat is a little darker in appearance now than the surrounding area. They look like shadows.

I put a few coats of HP Arm-R-Seal on first and then put a few coats of GF High Performance on top of the Arm-R-Seal. GF High Performance is supposed to have UV inhibitors…? That's why I used it.

I’d like to try to fix this before I have to completely re-finish the entire seat again. It’s not very noticeable now, but will get worse if I don’t take care of it.

Could the “shadows” from the items on the seat be caused by something other than UV fading?

I don’t have spray equipment so I stick to brush-on application finishes.

Any feedback would be welcomed and I can try to get some photos to post if it’ll show.

Thanks.

[John TenEyck]

Bill, got any pictures? My experience with GF's HP Poly has been very good - no aging of a cherry piece for about 5 years. Are you sure it's fading? Maybe whatever has been laying on the finish has darkened it? Comparative pictures should prove useful.

Where do you live and which way does that window face?

John

[Howard Acheson]

The only wood that gets lighter in reaction to UV is Walnut. What is the species of wood?

[John TenEyck]

The only wood that gets lighter in reaction to UV is Walnut. What is the species of wood?

All woods bleach out almost white in the long term with enough direct sun exposure. I doubt that's the case here, however, since it's only been a couple of months.

John

[Bill Rodgers]

I live in northern Wisconsin. Window faces north and gets some afternoon and evening sun but not a great deal. Items on it are a couple photo frames, a couple coasters, and a carved wooden tray so I wouldn't think any of these things would be causing the fading. At first I thought it might be dust but after cleaning it, it's definitely showing shadows. Here's some photos you can kind of see them in...

[Bill Rodgers]

In the second photo you can make out the long rectangle where the photo frame stood. Any ideas on what I might be able to do here?

[John TenEyck]

Bill, based on your location and the location of that window I really doubt fading is the underlying issue. I can only guess that perhaps there was a reaction between the finish and what you sat on it. I've seen that happen with plastics and pieces finished with oils. What can you do about it? Not much. Try leaving the window with nothing on it for a couple of months. If fading was the issue, the darker areas will catch up to the lighter and I'll have been wrong. If the contrast stays pretty constant, then I was likely right. In the end, your pictures don't show much of an issue, at least to me, and I wouldn't do anything about it. I certainly wouldn't be thinking about starting over.

John

[Gary Muto]

...I put a few coats of HP Arm-R-Seal on first and then put a few coats of GF High Performance on top of the Arm-R-Seal. GF High Performance is supposed to have UV inhibitors…? That's why I used it....

I don’t have spray equipment so I stick to brush-on application finishes.

Any feedback would be welcomed and I can try to get some photos to post if it’ll show.

Thanks.

Bill,

I didn't know the GF High Performance Poly has UV inhibitors. The label says that it will not yellow but nothing about UV. Your statement has a question mark so I am inferring that you are not sure. I know GF Exterior 450 has UV inhibitors. It is also a softer finish for outdoor durability. As such, GF says that it is not recommended for interior use.

Does anyone have any other finishing options that combine a hard finish with UV protection? Can anyone confirm that GF High Performance Poly has UV protection?

[John TenEyck]

Bill,

I didn't know the GF High Performance Poly has UV inhibitors. The label says that it will not yellow but nothing about UV. Your statement has a question mark so I am inferring that you are not sure. I know GF Exterior 450 has UV inhibitors. It is also a softer finish for outdoor durability. As such, GF says that it is not recommended for interior use.

Does anyone have any other finishing options that combine a hard finish with UV protection? Can anyone confirm that GF High Performance Poly has UV protection?

GF HP Poly does contains a dual UV package. Look here: https://generalfinishes.com/retail-products/water-base-top-coats-sanding-sealers/high-performance-polyurethane-topcoat#.VV_dZUZBn6E and here: https://generalfinishes.com/sites/default/files/file_downloads/tech-data-ef-high-performance-poly-2014-07-28.pdf

John

[Gary Muto]

John,

Thanks for the info. I've heard of people recommending Ext 450 as I mentioned earlier. This is good to know. I think I will switch to this finish, at least for refinishing. I used the GF Pre Cat Urethane but I will only use that over bare or freshly stained wood surfaces going forward.

When I've tried to get the technical data sheets through my company (Furniture Medic) I get a lot of dead end links. I never thought to go to the SDS tab on the GF general site. Seems obvious now.

[John TenEyck]

No problem Gary. I forgot to mention, Sherwin Williams makes a solvent based product with UV inhibitors. I don't use it because it's solvent based, but it's available; can't think of the name at the moment - "high build" is in the name I think. A guy on another forum really likes it and pictures of his work are beautiful. They also make a WB product with UV inhibitors but when I looked at their website the minimum order size is 5 gallons, so that eliminated it from my consideration.

John

[Bill Rodgers]

Thanks for the help guys. Interesting idea of items reacting with the finish John. I'll be sure to keep and eye on it and if it keeps getting worse, I might give GF a call and see what they might recommend.