What finish for interior doors and trim?

[Brian Elfert]

I have eight or nine oak interior doors and a half house of oak trim to finish. Any suggestions for what finish I use? The original doors and trim in the house from five years ago were sprayed with lacquer before installation.

Sherwin-Williams recommended some Wood Classics waterborne polyurethane varnish in gloss. I don't like the poly as it raises the finish and everything has to be sanded after the first coat. The gloss has WAY too much shine for doors and trim. When a pro painter does doors and trim I don't think they do any sanding between coats and it turns out pretty good.

I thought about spraying lacquer, but I don't have a real good spot to do the spraying. I did talk to Jeff at Homestead Finishing about a spray gun, but haven't gone any further than that.

Brian Elfert

[Steve Schoene]

Shellac and lacquer don't need to be sanded between coats, except for appearance, but the other alternatives, either oil based or waterborne varnishes generally should be sanded between coats to assure good bonding. Varnishes cure chemically, and once cured don't link together chemically, only mechanically, in the scratches from sanding. Pro's or not, millwork with a brushed on finish will look much better with quick scuff sanding between coats. Don't skimp on the sanding prior to finishing either if you don't want to see the ripples from the shaper or planer.

[Dennis Peacock]

Brian,

Most every finish will raise the wood grain to some degree. Most varnishes like poly will for sure have to be sanded in order to make a good bond for the next coat. Shellac and lacquer don't have to be sanded between coats as they chemically bond together by melting some of the previous coat to make the bond appear and work like a single thick coat.
I'd recommed lacquer, sand after the first coat and then apply 2 more coats and call it done. ;)
I've used a lacquer sanding sealer several times with excellent results. It sands MUCH easier that straight lacquer and you can tone down the gloss finish by rubbing with 4 aught steel wool to give you a semi-gloss looking finish. With shellac or lacquer, each coat dries so quickly that you can easily recoat in about 1 hour, so getting all the coats on in one day is possible.

Just tossing all that in a pile. :D

[Steve Clardy]

Satin lacquer. I usually spray.

Watco has a brushable lacquer that works well if you want to brush.

[Scot Easterday]

Dear Brian,

If you intend to spray your trim and doors, and desire somthing more durable than lacquer, I believe you should consider a catalyzed or a precatalyzed conversion varnish. A real good one that I have found is from Woodwright wood finishes. They are the company in Ohio that manufactures the finishes that are found most of the Amish-made furniture throughout the U.S. It is truley one of the easiest to use and lowest odor finishes that I have worked with. If you want I can get you in contact with them. Scot

[Jason Roehl]

Brian, that Wood Classics raises the grain much less than other waterborne polys. That said, I can't imagine NOT sanding a finish at all, you'll always get something in your finish, but I only sand right before the final coat, and it's only a light sanding with a very fine drywall sanding sponge (think ~1 min/door side). I also put a coat of SealCoat down before I apply WB poly--that also cuts down dramatically on the raised grain issue. Wood Classics also comes in a satin which looks pretty good with not too much shine to it.