Interior wall finish?

[Kevin A]

I'm looking for some suggestions on what to use to finish the oak veneer plywood I'm using on the interior walls. I'm considering some sort of clear sealer or varnish. I thought about using stain but would prefer not having the walls too dark. What method are you all using?

[mikeschn]

If it were me I would experiment with pickling or some kind of white stain that lets the grain show through!

Mike...

[SteveH]

I thought about using stain but would prefer not having the walls too dark.

Kevin,

Those were my thoughts also when I built my tear. I used several coats of polyurethane varnish with no stain over the birch plywood walls, and a ceiling of white painted wood paneling. I'm happy with it, and most importantly, so is she.

[Woody]

Kevin.

If you want a good clear coat and is water based (low odor) Benjamin Moore has a product called "Stay Clear". I used on my interior for a low odor finish. Dries very fast as well and it can be tinted and is very durable

[doug hodder]

I used anilin dye with lacquer. Unfortunately they changed the formula on the lacquer recently to meet the Voc requirements. It flashed off too fast, couldn't keep a wet edge while spraying, tons of overspray. Sanded it down, shot it with polyurethane. As a side note..... you can shoot polyurethane over lacquer, but don't shoot lacquer over polyurethane. I just trashed all my galley doors tonight by doing that. What was I thinking?????????? Hopefully I can correct it, as I don't want to have to remake all the rail and stiles for the cabinet doors. Whoops, I guess I learned something the hard way, and I hate to admit it, but somehow those are the best learned lessons. doug hodder

[The R/C Man]

Hey Guys!

I have been looking at some pine and cedar planking at Lowes. I was considering using cedar (or pine) part way up due to its thickness (1/4" kick pannel for those restless nights) and then 1/8" paneling the rest of the way up with a wood boarder to seperate them. I think it will be very funtional and give it a very proffesional finished look. Oh, and the cedar smells great! Just a thought.

[Denzagrad]

Does anybody waterproof the interior? Is it necessary?

[roger-c]

R/C
That's the same stuff I'm using in mine. I installing the Knoty Pine and just varethane it and it looks great! One package covered both doors. I can't wate the get the rest done.

rogrc

[The R/C Man]

roger-c,

I took a look at your web site. Your tear is coming along nicely.

If I use cedar I won't put anything on it such as verethane. I will use it if I go with the pine. It will depend on my budget.....

[David Grason]

BTW, Kevin A, are you using Red Oak or White Oak?

I'm asking because I used to install both of these woods a lot when I worked as a hardwood flooring installer. I found that Red Oak looks harsh without some kind of stain to tone it down. White Oak, on the other hand, looks beautiful with no stain at all. I'd put on a coat of sealer and 2 coats of poly and it looked like a million.

But with Red Oak, when a customer explained that they didn't want any stain at all, what they usually were asking for was as light a color as possible. So I would first give the Red Oak a coat of Minwax Natural. Unlike other stains that have coloring agents, Minwax Natural has no color added. Instead it's based on linseed oil and gives Red Oak the perfect honey color and warmth that it needs. I never had an unhappy customer when I used it. Once you use it, you can then go with the sealer coat followed by 2 coats of poly or 2 coats of Tung oil or varnish. End it all with a good coating of paste wax, buffed out and you'll love it.

[Kevin A]

BTW, Kevin A, are you using Red Oak or White Oak?

I'm asking because I used to install both of these woods a lot when I worked as a hardwood flooring installer. I found that Red Oak looks harsh without some kind of stain to tone it down. White Oak, on the other hand, looks beautiful with no stain at all. I'd put on a coat of sealer and 2 coats of poly and it looked like a million.

But with Red Oak, when a customer explained that they didn't want any stain at all, what they usually were asking for was as light a color as possible. So I would first give the Red Oak a coat of Minwax Natural. Unlike other stains that have coloring agents, Minwax Natural has no color added. Instead it's based on linseed oil and gives Red Oak the perfect honey color and warmth that it needs. I never had an unhappy customer when I used it. Once you use it, you can then go with the sealer coat followed by 2 coats of poly or 2 coats of Tung oil or varnish. End it all with a good coating of paste wax, buffed out and you'll love it.

First I want to thank everyone for their suggestions
I wound up staining the red oak plywood with a cherry stain, it's still fairly light but it really brought out the grain in the wood. I'll be following it up with Minwax polyurethane. David, you mention a sealer coat between the stain & poly, what type of sealer do you recommend and is it necessary with the oil base stain? Here's a photo of how the walls turned out, there are a few more in my photo album. It's finally starting to look like a trailer again.