# Rough Cut Cedar HELP!!!!



## StevenT (Apr 21, 2014)

I am new here and have a problem/question. My wife wanted a new bathroom. So she likes the weathered wood look so I tore everything apart and built a new vanity top for the master bathroom. I took tongue and grove rough cut cedar and made my top and backsplash. I made a homemade stain out of vinegar and steel wool and it came out looking real good. Now comes the fun part of sealing it so it doesn't stain and get any water damage around the sinks or wherever my 2 year old spills water. What can I use? The guys at my local hardware store sold me a gallon of water based "oil modified" polyurethane. I put a coat on it and it got real real dark. I am watching it and its lighting back up, kinda, but its just soaking it up. Is there something else I should use that wont darken it up as much, and seal it? My other problem is, if I use this polyurethane they sold me I know I have to sand between coats. But I don't want to lose the raised grain. Should I get what they put on bar tops? Any help would be great


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The dark color came from the stain and not the polyurethane. When ever you do a new finish it's best to practice on scrap wood putting a finish over the stain to see if you like the color. Really since you are finishing it in place there isn't really anything you can do. To lighten the color it would need to be chemically stripped and since everything is in place you would never get the color out of the corners. 

The finish will need to be sanded between coats however I would put a couple of more coats on before doing that. Then use a 320 grit paper so it doesn't distort the wood too much. For what you are doing it would have been better to have used an oil base finish. It wouldn't fuzz the wood like the water based finish would. The water in your finish just naturally raises the grain.


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## StevenT (Apr 21, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> The dark color came from the stain and not the polyurethane. When ever you do a new finish it's best to practice on scrap wood putting a finish over the stain to see if you like the color. Really since you are finishing it in place there isn't really anything you can do. To lighten the color it would need to be chemically stripped and since everything is in place you would never get the color out of the corners.
> 
> The finish will need to be sanded between coats however I would put a couple of more coats on before doing that. Then use a 320 grit paper so it doesn't distort the wood too much. For what you are doing it would have been better to have used an oil base finish. It wouldn't fuzz the wood like the water based finish would. The water in your finish just naturally raises the grain.


I stained everything a week ago before I put it in place. The color went back to gray like the pictures instead of darker after applying the first coat of polyurethane. So you think I should just put a bunch of coats on until it's about the grain then sand between coats rather than getting the stuff they put on bars?


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## StevenT (Apr 21, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> The dark color came from the stain and not the polyurethane. When ever you do a new finish it's best to practice on scrap wood putting a finish over the stain to see if you like the color. Really since you are finishing it in place there isn't really anything you can do. To lighten the color it would need to be chemically stripped and since everything is in place you would never get the color out of the corners.
> 
> The finish will need to be sanded between coats however I would put a couple of more coats on before doing that. Then use a 320 grit paper so it doesn't distort the wood too much. For what you are doing it would have been better to have used an oil base finish. It wouldn't fuzz the wood like the water based finish would. The water in your finish just naturally raises the grain.


Forgot to say, the pictures are after a week of the stain and before I put the polyurethane on.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

StevenT said:


> Forgot to say, the pictures are after a week of the stain and before I put the polyurethane on.


Perhaps I misunderstood. I was under the impression you have already put poly on your counter. If you haven't then you may be able to lighten the wood with oxalic acid or bleach. When you put any clear coating on wood it will darken it even if it doesn't have stain on it. When you stain the wood you pretty much have to judge the color while the stain is wet because it lightens as it dries. The trouble is when you put the clear coating on it will return to about the same color it was when it was wet.


The reason I recommended a few extra coats before sanding is since the wood is rough there is a high chance you will sand through the finish and take the color off the ridges of the wood. This is extremely difficult for an experienced finisher to fix so for most means stripping and refinishing. I was trying to save you from getting there. Just go easy with the sanding. All you are trying to do is smooth it and sometimes better to do it in a few coats than all at once. The water based poly is thin so it doesn't build like a lot of finishes so more caution is warranted. 


I never did address the question about the bar top finish. For what you are doing I don't think you want that. It is a lot thicker finish that would cover up the texture of the wood that you want.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

We have an introduction section where you can say a few words about yourself. If you fill out your profile in your "User Control Panel", you can list any hobbies, experience or other facts. You can also list your general geographical location which would be a help in answering some questions. In doing that your location will show under your username when you post. 



StevenT said:


> Forgot to say, the pictures are after a week of the stain and before I put the polyurethane on.


Since you already put a coat of polyurethane on, no sense trying to bleach it lighter. At this stage, you might just reproduce what you now have with a sample, and take it to the final finish to see what it looks like. Using a pour on epoxy bar top finish would completely seal the wood and give it a thick film look. By the time you get enough of the polyurethane on, it will appear to have a similar coating.








 








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