Hello!

We are about to install caribbean heart pine in our home and would prefer an oiled finish (no-gloss). Problem is we want to stain it a darker color (brownish, no ambers or reds) and it seems to me the heart pine is not a good substrate for traditional stains. We have tried some test stains (basic minwax stuff) and it looks pretty splotchy due to the vast differences in porosity within the same boards.

Any suggestions as to the best product for staining heart pine? We want to bring out the grain and give some color but the traditional stains looks horribly uneven.

I am about to try a sample of some "dark" tung oil from the real milk paint co. I have heard gel stain may work but don't know if you can apply a finishing oil over that.

Any suggestions, thoughts, links, pics would be greatly appreciated.


Bluejack


PS I have tried a rubio/monocoat sample that looked good but the cost was steep and kind of hard to believe the claims.

Most true pine does not stain well. I do not know if "caribbean" pine is a true pine with the same properties. You should expect some "splotchiness" if using pine. Some methods some employ are:

1) mix the stain with the sealer and "paint" it on. This can be used with Waterlox and Dura-Seal stains. Dura Seal makes a neutral stain base where one can add stain and paint this mixture EVENLY over the floor. Do not FLOOD. Waterlox makes a tung-oil mixture you can mix with stain and also paint it on the floor. You can then add more Waterlox finish to add build and protection. It's on their website.

2) Some sand the wood coarsely to allow even penetration of the stain. Too fine and the stain will be splotchy.

3) Some "waterpop" the wood instead of coarse sanding.

4) Some swear by gel stains. I do not like them.

5) Some use a pre-conditioner. I do not think this works well because it's seals the wood and prevents the stain from penetrating much and it's difficult to get the wood very dark.

There maybe other methods as well. If using pine, accept the limitations of your choice. If eveness of color is more important, select another wood.

Thanks Gary,

We wanted a really wide plank and had a limit for cost. The caribbean pine was the widest we could get for the money we could spend. Hence the choice. Will look into the suggestions you made. Thanks again.

B