It really frustrates me when I see new finishing style and ask how it is done, only to get the ‘it is a trade secrete’ response. That is so lame. Some people want to know how do a particular finish and other folks are content to pay someone else to do the work.

Ok, I will get off my soap box now.

Question #1: Stain dye is the raw colors that can be combined to create a specific stain color. What you buy at the local big box home improvement retailer are premixed stains. You can take one of these stains and use it as a base and then apply the stain dye to it alter the color and tone of the stain to your liking.

It is like in art class back in school where you would take the primary colors and then mix them to create the secondary colors and just about any other color you wanted.

Question #2:
Glaze is a colorant that can be applied to wood after it has been sealed. Once, it is dry glaze will not wipe off. Stain, on the other hand, is a colorant that can only be applied to unsealed wood. As my parents found out years ago when they first applied a coat of varnish to their kitchen cabinets, then they applied a coat of stain and noticed that it wiped off completely. After forty years, the varnish has yellowed to a nice golden oak look.

Stain cannot penetrate a sealed surface. Thus, once dry it can be wiped off.

Glaze is available at your local big box home improvement store and also paint stores.

Do you have to shoot it with a spray gun? You can but you don’t have to. You can roll it, brush it, or spray it.

Thank you soooo much for your step by step instruction for this process. I have seen what this process looks like first hand while touring a custom home. The builder told me the craftsman who “finished” the cabinets would not disclose the products or the process. He mentioned it was an 8 step process, maybe an exaggeration.

My questions are these.

1) Is “Stain Dye” different then the “Stain” we get a home depot? I did read about where to get the Dye, but wanted to know the difference.

2) What is and where do I buy the “Glaze”. What color is the glaze and do I have to spray it from a paint gun. The cabinets I saw were breathtaking; worth whatever effort it takes……. Please reply

Homestead’s TransTint Dyes

Sherwin Williams stores should carry dye stain concentrates

However, picture frames in general don’t take the same amount of use and abuse that a door would take. I would go very easy on the part of adding dents and other damage to the picture frame.

As for the finishing part, the picture frame would collect the most dirt and grim in the corners just like a door would.

Good luck. Let me know how your project turns out.

The first category of techniques relies on attempting to physically age / distress the wood and finish to make it look older than it really is. I have never attempted this so I really cannot speak about it.

The other category of techniques is to attempt to match the color of the old wood’s finish by using universal pigments.

I have tried this some success. The process is fairly simple.

Step 1: Select a stain that his closest to the wood that you are attempting to match. Stain the new wood this color.

Step 2: Seal the wood with a sealer that matches the existing wood’s luster and shine.

Step 3: Select the earth tone universal pigments that closely match the existing floor’s color and pigmentation. Apply these pigments in layers to match the existing wood’s color. The idea here is that as the existing wood’s finish aged it changed color and acquired dirt and other grim. However, you don’t want the these new pigments to soak deep into the new wood. You want them to “sit on top” of the base finish.

Step 4: Once the new wood matches the existing wood you will need to seal the existing wood. Use the same sealer a second time. This will “lock in” the pigments that you applied on top so that they will not get wiped away.

Definitively do this on a scrape piece of wood and perfect your technique before attempting to go full scale on all of the new wood.

Good luck. Let me know how your project turns out.

Check out the post distressed painted finish it goes into detail on how to give a painted piece of furniture a distressed look and feel.

Thanks!

We bought a cottage like home recently that we are getting ready to remodel. There is a loft area on the 2nd floor that shows exposed beams on the first floor ceiling. We want to preserve that look, but the last owner has it a solid dark brown – we are hoping to make it look like distressed wood. Any suggestions on how to accomplish?

I need a little more info on the state of the paneling. Is the paneling physically in good shape? Or is the paneling glue failing and it is separating?

If the finish is dirty, cracked and starting to peal off, it might be time to consider stripping the old finish off and then stain and varnish the paneling.

However, if the wood is damaged and you want to keep the paneling after you have replaced the damaged sections it will be necessary to then strip and refinish the entire paneling. It is possible to only finish the fixed areas, for example, a section of the trim molding was damage and had to be replaced. The tricky part is what is the state of the finish on the rest of the paneling? If the varnish has yellowed or is chipped and flaking off, I would stripe all of the varnish off and refinish it.