# Refinishing Chestnut



## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

My house has chestnut from the 30's. Luckily none of it has ever been painted. Some of it is starting to show its age and I think the shellac finish is the original.

I put some denatured alcohol on it and rubbed off the shellac with #0000 steel wool. The result is a much lighter color. I would like to get it back to the color shown in this photo. Is it just amber shallac? I don't think the wood was stained and I wouldn't want to stain it. I just want the grain to pop some and keep the dark color. The photo used a flash, the wood looks a little darker without bright light.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

that pic sure looks like oak.
and am pretty sure it has been stained.
you can try tinting your shellac with a little raw umber


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

That photo looks like an old polyurethane finish over stained red oak.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

dont some people call that chestnut oak?
i think its red oak too


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

I may have taken a picture of a replacement window. I will take some baseboard photos tomorrow. I have noticed that some of the wood is oak in spots. Someone may have replaced damaged wood.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

I need to explain my goal. Some of the wood has the alligator texture to it. Other spots, the finish has become uneven. I want to get it back to being even ad I don't want to change the original color.

This image is one of the original windows. It is in pretty good shape.









Here is the original base board with the alligator problem.









This is a window sill that appeared to have water damage. I scrubbed it with steel wool and denatured alcohol to get all the crap off. This is how it looks now. How would one repair this?


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

that, as you call alligator prob is common with shellac when it gets old. on of the reasons i dont use it for a finish. you def have stain, and it looks like oak to me. to do the job right i would strip, re stain and finish. i prefure a gel stain so after applying and wipping off you can tone with the gel stain thinned to get an even look. but you need spray equipment for that.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

So I basically have to strip it all the way down and restain everything?


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

thats what i would do.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Do I keep going with the denatured alcohol?


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

if thats completly removing the finish then yes.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

The last photo that I showed. Do I need to get the wood down more before staining it or is that goo enough to apply stain?


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Try scuff sanding with 220X, and see if it will take stain.

If not, you will need to remove more, possibly a different remover/ stripper. :smile:


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

if you dont mind the dings and banged up look. you should be good with a stain that is close in color, and probably want to go alitle darker.
if your looking for a nicer finished look and more control over color. you should use a chem stripper to remove more stain. i use jasco paint and epoxy remover. then sand well with 220. now when you use the stripper also get some small brass brushes ( kinda like a wooden toothbrush ), home depot has both. jasco will help remove the stain, but youve probably stil have finish in the deep grain, thus the brass brush. brass is key work here, dont use standerd wire brush. also b4 sanding wipe down with generous amounts of lacquer thinner, not mineral spirits. that will neutralize the chems in the stripper.
imo i would want to keep the character ( ding/imperfecton ) just because of the age.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the tips. I am being a lot more cautious with this wood than with other wood in the house. I still think it may be chestnut. The color on the unfinished side is the same as the finished side was. I also noticed that the wood was significantly lighter than oak. I'm just mentioning that becuase I thought that the finishing approach may change with the type of wood.

I don't think that I can remove the wood because it may be brittle, so all the work will be done in place. I have pets and can not open the windows in the winter. Are any of the chemical strippers safer for my situation? Any suggestions on stain color? I want to keep it close to the original because there are some spots that don't need repair. I really like General Finishes, but I am open to all suggestions.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Continuing my last post, I will only be refinishing some of the wood. A lot of the wood finish is in great shape. The image attached is of a peice that I removed. I did the denatured and steel, followed by 120, 180, 220. This is what it looks like stripped down bare. There was a peice that broke off that I glued back on. The wood is this color throughout. 

I would like to get it back to the window frame in the comparison. I think that there may not have been a stain and that the darker color was a result of 75 years of aging. I may be completely wrong, just trying to share as much information as possible.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

that stripped pc looks good.
as far as what color to use, its hard to say from a picture. you probably gonna need to play with some stains to match. you can use multiple colors to get what you need. from what i can see , and remember i use zar stains. it looks to be provencial,,,, natural teak,,,,
you want to do a test all the way through the finish. dif finishes will also give diferent hue's.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

I've searched Google quite a bit but I can't find must in the way of tips to match stains. I really like the General Finishes brand stains I used on my cabinets. I am really nervous about trying to match to what is there. 

I know that I am opening a can of worms with this question.... You said that you preferred poly over shellac. I had read up on both and the big concern with poly is that it makes the wood look like plastic. I want to avoid that at all costs. Does the plastic look have more to do with the brand of poly? I really liked the General Finishes Polyacrilic Satin, but it may not have enough of that "wow" factor for this wood.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

One more update. I found a similar post on the web, someone looking to see if they have white oak or chestnut. Based on the age and the lightness of the wood, some people leaned towards chestnut. The answer is apparently in the edge. This is exactly like what I have.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

jack warner said:


> that stripped pc looks good.
> as far as what color to use, its hard to say from a picture. you probably gonna need to play with some stains to match. you can use multiple colors to get what you need. from what i can see , and remember i use zar stains. it looks to be provencial,,,, natural teak,,,,
> you want to do a test all the way through the finish. dif finishes will also give diferent hue's.



That's what I always tell people..never be afraid to experiment with anything. When you get it right, you'll always remember it.:thumbsup:


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Is it better to not sand anything and protect the patina with this particular wood?


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

yaemish said:


> Is it better to not sand anything and protect the patina with this particular wood?


on the pc's youve stripped there is no patina. a patina is basicly an aged finish, or unfinished wood with alot of age


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Sorry, my question was a little too open. I know that I took it off on the damaged piece. I was looking to fix the other chestnut in the house as the shellac finish is damaged. I would consider changing the color of that wood with a stain, but if the patina of the wood adds to the value.... I would feel like the guy that paints the molding. It would be a little selfish to destroy something with historic significance.

This is a great article about fixing shellac. Like I said, I would consider removing it and finishing it some other way but I don't want to kill history. I'm starting to consider BLO as a finish.


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## monty1975 (Apr 6, 2009)

If DNA removes the finish and the color and you are happy with the color pre shellac removal, why not just remove the DNA and then reapply an amber dewaxed shellac?

If the wood is in good condition overall and you like the colors I'd stay away from stripping and sanding.

If only shellac is on the surface (no stain) you won't need any steel wool or sandpaper to remove it -- just lots of DNA, a plastic scraper, and plenty of rags.


brian


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

yaemish said:


> Sorry, my question was a little too open. I know that I took it off on the damaged piece. I was looking to fix the other chestnut in the house as the shellac finish is damaged. I would consider changing the color of that wood with a stain, but if the patina of the wood adds to the value.... I would feel like the guy that paints the molding. It would be a little selfish to destroy something with historic significance.
> 
> This is a great article about fixing shellac. Like I said, I would consider removing it and finishing it some other way but I don't want to kill history. I'm starting to consider BLO as a finish.


if it were me i would remove the finish on all. that way your all your finish will have the same uniform look. no matching.
i dont think it will make a difference as far as value. it really depends on the buyer. a lot of people dont like the wood look. specially the younger generation.

i def would not use blo over shellac. now if your interest in an oil finish ( witch i prefure ), i would def take it all down. blo takes long time to cure by itself, and wont cure properly over shellac, if at all.


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## yaemish (Aug 15, 2010)

Even thought I fall into the "young generation", I love the wood and don't want to destroy the history there. Because of that, I have completely ruled out modern finishes. I tried to repair some of the alligator shellac last night and it is too far good. I suspect too much was initially applied.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this color below the shellac. This image is something I found on the web, but it is spot on. I am considering talking it all down to this and then going with an application of garnet shellac.


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## beffreyj3 (Jan 18, 2012)

I'm curious what you finally went with and how it turned out? I'm a first time homeowner and my 1937 Cape Cod has chestnut throughout: paneling, molding, trim, closet and cabinet doors, window sills. It is beautiful but some window sills have water damage similar to yours.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

That looks like antique Chestnut to me. The old Chestnut looked like a cross between Red Oak and Ash and is light in weight. I have some out in the shop somewhere. This is antique Chestnut with just oil on it that I built out of Chestnut from some church pews built in the very early 1800s.


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## larrynj (Jan 27, 2012)

*first post, kind of long but relevent..*

i'm about to add the last couple of shellac finish coats on the doors and moldings in my entrance way foyer, all chestnut. the house was built in 1902 and survived without paint on any of the woodwork, all originally finished with shellac.i've been here for 25 years and have quite a bit of experience with matching up the patina of the old wood on repairs. i'm matching up the foyer to the interior hall pocket doors that have the original color and finish after all these years .first after stripping with alcohol and scraping the moldings to bare wood due to the alligatored old finish,i saned the flat sections to 400 grit and the moldings(carefully) to 220 grit. i used 2 sealer coats of orange shellac, a 1 lb cut, rubbed on with a cloth. i experimented with some old chestnut, trying some dyes and stains to find something that matched. the sealer coats added a nice amber glow to the raw wood, but i need a darker tone to mimic the patina i wanted.i was surprised and happy with the 2 coats of sealer shellac, followed by good old minwax stain, english chestnut,also wiped on with some rags.i left the stain sit for about 20 minutes and wiped clean. the humidity yesterday and today is 90 plus, so i'm waiting for the stain to completely dry before adding the finish coats of orange shellac, a 2 lb cut. don't rush into anything, and test what you plan to do on some scrap chestnut if you have some available. feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.i have some pictures, not yet uploaded in the camera, but i'll post them soon to this thread.i love working with the old chestnut. after hand planing some, the curls off the planer are almost irridesent(sp?).


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## larrynj (Jan 27, 2012)

damn, i just saw this thread was a year old!!! the last reply was 2012, and i assumed this was recent. just trying to help.


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## punkin611 (Sep 17, 2013)

yaemish said:


> Do I keep going with the denatured alcohol?


 Mix the alcohol with equal part lacquer thinner rub it on with steel wool works great.:yes:


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