AboutGreg Scholl Expertise Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects,Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings,wood species recognition,usage,etc.
Experience Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Sold, built, serviced, setup Home,Industrial and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools, and offered instruction on use and care as well.I even have some Trade show Demo experience.
Organizations none at this time.
Publications Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how"), local newspapers as well
Education/Credentials Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars by Major tool manufacturers, Delta, Powermatic, Performax, Porter Cable, Skil/Bosch to name a few.
Past/Present Clients Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT.(the Antiques capital of CT.) Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.), local Museums and Historical Societies.
Question QUESTION: We recently had our wood floors finished with a light stain and three coats of satin ploly. The people we hired had to re-do a small powder room. It is currently shinier than the rest of the floor.
They said not to worry, to let the floor cure over the week-end and it should dull out. He apologized for not warning us that the sheen might appear to be different for three or four days – that it often happens when you re-do a section so soon after it was originally done.
Does this explanation make sense to you? Has this been your experience?
Thank you for your help.
ANSWER: Can you explain this a little better, do you mean they did the powder room, but had to immediately re-do it?If so, why?
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QUESTION: The cut the hole around the toilet too large. They replaced those boards, sanded, and re-stained and re-applied the poly. The explanation for why it is shinier than the floor outside the powder room is that when you re-apply the poly so soon after a first application it will be take longer to "dull down." This doesn't make sense to me if they indeed re-sanded -- maybe they didn't take all the original poly off. They also tell me that the industry standard is to apply one gloss layer than cover with satin poly. Won't the gloss show through the satin layer?
Answer Hi Julie, it is common practice to use a Gloss layer to build the finish, and then use the desired gloss level for the final coats, (Satin, Semi-gloss, etc), but each coat must be sanded for adhesion purposes until the last finish coat.The Gloss won't show through the chosen top coat, and it does produce a clearer, deeper finish. While any freshly finished floor will "dull down", their explanation doesn't sound right to me either...but one of the things that also affects the final gloss level is the amount of coats on the floor, because the more coats on an Oak floor, the more it fills the pores and open grain, and then the more it reflects light making it more Glossy. So if they sanded down the powder room floor, they filled the grain more, and produced a shinier floor, but Satin should be Satin, and it's possible they didn't have the exact Gloss level with them so they just applied Semi-Gloss or whatever was on the truck....it's also possible that they didn't stir the product well, which always needs to be done carefully to mix the flattening agents into the finish properly. These settle out of the finish in the can rather quickly. If you take a can of Satin, and don't stir it, it won't be Satin, it will be much Glossier. Their explanation of the floor taking longer to "dull down" is true, essentially, a Glossier floor WILL take longer to "dull down"....but it sounds like the finish they used was either the wrong Gloss level, or not stirred properly....and it takes careful and thorough stirring to incorporate the flattening agents. Hope that helps- Greg
