Exterior solid stain

My thoughts

Ellis Walentine

I looked up Valspar One-Coat Exterior, which may or may not be the one you're inquiring about. It is a water-based product that purportedly stains and seals, putting it pretty squarely in the category of acrylic paint, probably thinned to a slight dilution to qualify it as a stain. Why you couldn't use it indoors is beyond me -- probably not health concerns -- but I'd suggest getting a little sample and running some tests to see how you like the surface feel of house paint on your dining table.

As for other solid stain options... this is a huge realm. If you haven't checked out dye stains, I'd definitely get with them. Dyes color uniformly and don't accentuate the grain the way pigment stains do. Many stain formulations these days contain a variety of stains and toners, both dye and pigment, giving a look you wouldn't get with the purebred version. You can also experiment with layering, e.g., a coat of dye followed by a coat of pigment to accent the pore structure.

As our dear friend Michael Dresdner used to say, "finish firewood first." Know what you're going to get before you start on the real piece.

Ellis Walentine, Host

Re: My thoughts

Alan Czyzewski

Thank you for the advice. These are 2 end tables for my daughter.

Re: My thoughts

Bill Howatt

While I can't swear to the accuracy of this, I always thought that the exterior coatings shouldn't be used inside because they contain "poisons" like fungicides, etc.

Could be that after they cure the problem goes away unless some kid starts eating the corner off the table.

Bill

Re: My thoughts

Steve D, CT

Exterior products may not harden to the extent of an interior paint since they are trying to endure weather and wide humidity swings. If the paint doesn't cure hard there may be issues with objects sticking to the paint.

Sheen on an exterior solid stain will be very low and will probably show scuff marks.

If you already have the paint you could do a test board and put a lamp or something heavy on it for a week to see what you get.

some more information

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

What does "cover the grain " mean? What have you got and what is the desired outcome? Got yellow pine and it is to look like poplar? Or oak to look like walnut. Or cherry to look like plastic?

With a spray gun either a "NGR" stain or pigmented stain can be laid on to build up a uniform wood looking color and mask whatever the wood looks like in its native state. Poplar is turned the color of walnut for example to yield a result that looks like brown painted wood to someone that knows wood, or "walnut" to inexperienced furniture buyer.