Walnut Stairs - what finish?

Lobsterlady

Hi
I'm hoping this is the best area to post, please move on if it's not. I have just had installed a Walnut stairs (treads and handrail are walnut, the rest red deal). What is the best way to finish this walnut, it's a beautiful dark wood and i don't want to ruin it with a bad 'varnish' job. Could i French Polish it?? Would that be difficult for a beginner? I'm fairly good at arty projects so would see this as an enjoyable task.
I'd appreciate any advice on how to treat the walnut. The red deal i'll will be finishing with an eggshell, 'Farrow & Ball' White Tie. Thanks.

dubtom

That's a cracking job Lobsterlady, can't help with a suggestion but I would imagine that french polish wouldn't stand up in the long term. I know that the 'normal' finish on floors ect would be the ronseal diamond coat which gives a nice golden finish on pine or light flooring but I'm not sure if it would affect the colour on your walnut,which would be a shame.

galwayrush

Agood Basecoat followed by two part Lacquer would bring out the Walnut.

SpitfireIV

Really nice stairs alright, I love the contrast in colours and the contrast in wood! A little tip perhaps, but if there is a lot of traffic in the house, with building and such, or even minimal traffic I guess, it might be worth your while to cover each step with a bit of cardboard or something, it'll save the stairs from getting any knocks, scratches, stains etc and make sanding it when you come to finish it easier.

Lobsterlady

Thank you for nice comments and replies. I'll go to a paint shop to see what base coats and laquer would be suitable. I know i'll want something that will stand up to a bit of wear and tear. Maybe I should ring up the stair maker and bend his ear too.
Croppyboy, we had lots of cardboard protection on the stairs until the plumbers/tilers etc finished. Thank goodness i did that first day they were installed, as the amount of grit i dusted away, would have ruined them. All done now, and i've just removed covering. I have a no shoe policy in the house anyhow, and so far there's not a scratch on them.

ennisa

Gorgeous stairs, it might be worthwhile trying to locate some walnut offcuts so that you can check some different finishes on them before comitting on a finish for the stairs. Are the people that made the stairs able to provide you with any? I have a couple of scraps around the workshop but I don't know if that is any good to you.

I presume the stair people would have samples of the wood types that they can give you to test.

Double Barrel

LobsterLady,

A lady after my soul, not fair. My kingdom for a claw.:rolleyes:

Definitely get some scraps to test first. Preparation - sanding, scraping of inside corners etc.- is the key to a good finish.
Walnut is a hardwood but is relatively soft for use as stair threads. Apply a coat of sealer and two or three coats of the best quality floor finish you can get your hands on.

Floor finishes come in two categories, surface and penetrating. Surface finishes are layers of finish film sitting on the surface of the wood flooring and the most often used finishes are the polyurethane's, oil based urethanes,water based urethanes, moisture cured urethane ( as its name implies it dries by reacting with available humidity in the air-tricky stuff to apply) or conversion varnish ( very tricky stuff to apply). Most durable.

Penetrating finishes are finishes that are absorbed into the surface of the wood flooring, and are also referred to as penetrating sealers and are generally made of linseed oil, tung oil, and/or other oil-like manufactured polymers. I would consider this the most user friendly.

A flooring supply house will have products formulated for the job. I would start there.

Lobsterlady

Double Barrel wrote: »

LobsterLady,

A lady after my soul, not fair. My kingdom for a claw.:rolleyes:

Definitely get some scraps to test first. Preparation - sanding, scraping of inside corners etc.- is the key to a good finish.
Walnut is a hardwood but is relatively soft for use as stair threads. Apply a coat of sealer and two or three coats of the best quality floor finish you can get your hands on.

Floor finishes come in two categories, surface and penetrating. Surface finishes are layers of finish film sitting on the surface of the wood flooring and the most often used finishes are the polyurethane's, oil based urethanes,water based urethanes, moisture cured urethane ( as its name implies it dries by reacting with available humidity in the air-tricky stuff to apply) or conversion varnish ( very tricky stuff to apply). Most durable.

Penetrating finishes are finishes that are absorbed into the surface of the wood flooring, and are also referred to as penetrating sealers and are generally made of linseed oil, tung oil, and/or other oil-like manufactured polymers. I would consider this the most user friendly.

A flooring supply house will have products formulated for the job. I would start there.

My kingdom for a claw indeed!

Thank you for your input. I started painting them last week. Gave them a good dusting, light sanding, then a quick sweep with meths (high high) under the recommendation of a paint specialist. Sealed them, and now in the process of putting on coats of a polyurethane based finish, sanding every so lightly between coats. It's looking good, nice lustre now to the walnut. I'd heard lacquer was tricky to apply so bypassed this. I tested all this on the 'belly' of the stairs, which needs panelling eventually.
I have the red deal part now to tackle, i'd say i'll win with claws down.:cool:

ennisa

sounds good.

Post some pics of what they are like when you get them finished. I love the dark internal glowy lustre of oiled and finished walnut.

Double Barrel

"with claws down" ...... in drawn butter.

S.L.F

Sorry I didn't see this sooner.

Last time I sanded a floor I finished it with 3 coats of Danish oil then put on a diamond coat floor varnish.

The Danish oil gives it a great colour and the diamond coat gives it far better protection than most varnishes.