Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/3/2006

Question
This is a two-part question.

First: I bought a historic house, built around 1760, with a 1970s kitchen/bathroom add-on. The bathroom wainscotting appears to have been taken from an old church. It's wood, with arch-shaped carvings, and a narrow "shelf" topping it off midway up the wall. Not sure what type of wood it is. It's been stained dark. I also don't know what type of finish is on it now (if any). The wainscotting needs protection from the humidity in the bathroom. What's the best way to do this? Strip and sand, then apply stain and polyurethane/marine varnish? If so, can you recommend specific products? I want to make sure I don't ruin the wainscotting.

Second: The floors are 250-year-old heart pine planks. Stained dark. They're rough-looking, which is a fine look, but I'd like to know if there's a way to get a nice, durable shine to them that won't ruin the value or integrity of the flooring. I'm using a wax that has to be buffed in (by hand), but it's labor-intensive and doesn't last long. It also doesn't provide the shine that I'd like. Could it be as simple as applying polyurethane? Thoughts?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Tamara
Nice to hear from you.
Yes strip, sand (if necessary), apply your choice of stain color (I use Minwax stain), then 2 coats of finish.
Do not use the marine varnish for this. I like Minwax fast drying oil based poly in a low lustre finish.
If you use high gloss in a bathroom you will see every drip and mark.
If you have been waxing the pine floors they will have to be completely stripped before any poly products are used.
On the several restorations I worked on, we exclusively used a product called "Durathane".
Its durable and looks mellow.
Hope this helps
Regards
Eileen