Lomins

Staining Techniques

I wanted to show some pics of some trimwork that Ive recently stained, in place. The owner wanted to get a better match to the surrounding trim. Someone previously tried to match the colors, and there was a noticible difference.

First of all, mask off EVERYTHING! It pays to give yourself plenty of room to work with a rag full of stain. Next, putty all nail holes and other blemishes. I like to use stainable wood filler by Minwax. It feels kind of like sand, but it stains great! Lightly sand off excess putty, and also rough up the trim with 220 grit paper.

Here, Ive applied two coats of stain, wiping off the excess each time. Ive let it dry, then applied a new coat of polyurethane. I used two different colors of stain. The match was nearly exact to the surrounding trim!