Chyna's top staining tip

[chyna]

When staining beadboard use a brush not rags!!! Having to jam your finger nails into the grooves seriously is a bummer. :(

The previous owners of our house for reasons unbeknownst to me used beadboard in the livingroom, I suppose it was supposed be some sort of french country/rustic cottage thing but I hate the stuff! And their's was really knotty pine and left natural. They may have used tongue oil but... yuck. My dh wouldn't let me remove it in the area from the front door to the staircase so I told him fine but I'm staining it dark so I can't see those knots. There is where it went wrong. :p

Anyway it is stained and shellacked and looks really good, I would just use a brush or a foam brush if I did it again. I did figure out that if you sort of squish the stain into the grooves it races downhill and fills in the grooves for you but nonetheless!

And if anyone doubts the claim that shellac seals in smells on wood, it is totally true. We (as in Lizzie and I) did the staining on Saturday night and we all got to sleep in a stinky house and then I applied the shellac the next morning and the smell was gone. I so love shellac.:)

[annielinz]

Chyna, that must of been some undertaking!
Did you have to sand it before staining?
And of course do you have pics of the before and after?

[chyna]

I didn't sand and maybe should have but I do want a somewhat aged appearance like it has been there since 1930 not 199?. Ok I'm just bad about sanding before hand. :o:p When one is that close to a wall and floor it does bring up alot of questions. Like why doesn't the hardwood floor go all the way up to the wall like in other spots on that same wall expanse and was there a door there before the staircase was installed. I'm pretty sure on that one since now the sheetrock has settled away from the plaster and there are some cracks. I'm sooooo impressed with that old owner. :rolleyes: The front door is questionable too, I know it has always been there because of the trim but why is the wall so lumpy and why is it so close to that wall. I would believe it was sheetrock except I'm fairly certain it is plaster. Will have to investigate that again. :confused:

[Lynzee]

Wow...that must have been a lot of work, but I'll bet it's beautiful! I love the look of dark wood.

I'm not much into sanding either--especially in situations like this. I think not sanding just adds to "the look".

[mavgal]

I love knotty pine, but not in the living room, I love it in basements and upstairs attic-y rooms. Ii didn't know knotty pine paneling was referred to as beadboard, I guess different parts of the country call if different names.

[chyna]

No difference between parts of the country. You may be thinking of the flat boards with loads of knots that butt up against each other and maybe a bit of rounding of the edges. Mine is this stuff from Lowes that comes in a kit that is also of pine and clearly not the best wood in the universe since there is loads of knots in it. Mine is indeed beadboard which means there is a bead (decorative) towards the middle of the plank/board. Think pin striping. :p

The old stuff is fairly thick and sturdy boards but the newer stuff is more along the lines of balsa wood. That could be my dislike of the stuff in my livingroom though. :D

[mavgal]

Oh, I get it now, Didn't know it was the newer stuff, I may be buying some to put in our breakfast room (halfway up the wall), but I'll be painting it white.