We’ve reviewed stripping, bleaching and sanding, and staining. We’ve come to the last step: touch-ups and varnishing with polyurethane. We’ll go into the product we prefer and a bit on our technique.

1912 Bungalow tipped us off to an idea of using paint and artist brushes to touch-up any paint that was embedded in the wood. If it has survived sanding, you may do more damage by trying to dig these particles out of cracks and crevices. Using touch-up paint is a great option that doesn’t take much time, but really enhances the final product.

My touch-up paint collection

Acrylic craft paints are a great way to find a number of shades that will work with the stain color you’ve chosen.

Before

A fine tipped detail brush helps target small blemishes

After

The touch-ups are barely noticeable to the naked eye. Only you will know they are there.

After your touch-ups have dried (usually within an hour), you can start the varnishing process. The biggest caveat is to make sure that you remove all the dust residue before using any clear coat finish. Use a clean rag and rinse often. The idea is not to spread the dust around.

Our clear coat of choice is Varathane Diamond Polyurethane. We use the water-based version because of its quick dry time between coats. The finish is really light and doesn’t look like a lacquer, which we appreciated. They have a high-use version that is very durable. The other factor was the fact that it is a clear finish and won’t yellow over time. The oil-based version is notorious for yellowing and we wanted to preserve our red-toned stain color. If a golden tone is what you are going for, you may want to use oil.

We used the satin finish for much of the house, but realized it required 4 coats to get to the sheen we wanted. We switched to semi-gloss and can get the same satin sheen with 3 coats of the semi-gloss in the Varathane product.

There are many other options for clear coats including shellac and teak oil. Minwax also makes a wipe-on polyurethane that the folks over at Bungled have used with good results.

A high quality brush designed to apply polyurethane is a must. This is a place you don’t want to scrimp as you really don’t want brush strokes immortalized in your finish. Cheap, synthetic, dollar store brushes are no-no’s.

For the sake of my steps, I’m focusing on the use of a water-based polyurethane. If you are using a wipe-on product, follow the manufacturer instructions.

You’ll Need:

1. Work clothes you don’t mind getting paint and varnish on
2. Painters tape
3. Drop cloths or contractor paper for floor protection
4. Wood-toned paint in several shades
   • You’ll want a number of shades because the wood tones will vary and you want your touch-ups to blend in as well as you can.
5. Paint mixing surface, preferably plastic for easy clean-up
6. Fine tipped artist brushes (2 or 3 different sizes)
7. Bucket with clean water
8. Lint free rag to remove dust
9. Varathane Diamond Polyurethane
10. Poly-grade paint brushes
    • We like the angled brushes best in 1.5″ size for general use.
11. Stir stick
12. Small container to hold a small amount of polyurethane
13. Lint-free wiping cloths
14. Synthetic steel wool
15. Colored putty

Finish Coat Process:

1. Protect walls and floors.
2. Wash dust off woodwork
3. Prepare palette of paint colors
4. Use fine artist brush to touch up blemishes. Mix and match colors as necessary.
5. Allow touch-up paint to dry (usually 30-60 minutes)
6. Using clean water, wash woodwork again.
   • You don’t want any traces of dust. Use a clean rag and rinse often. Dust will make your smooth surface rough and gross. Don’t make it permanent.
7. Open polyurethane bucket and stir lightly
   • Don’t shake the product as you will create a lot of air bubbles.
8. Fill a small container (preferably with a handle) with a small amount of poly.
   • You can buy a cheap paint cup at Home Depot. Don’t dip in and out of the bucket of poly as you may corrupt it with any dust or lint left on the surface.
9. Apply a very light coat of polyurethane
10. Wipe your brush on a lint-free cloth between strokes.
    • Wiping on the cloth keeps each stroke cleaner as it will remove any lint or dust you may have picked up from the surface.
    • You want to do 3-4 light coats vs. 2 thick coats full of brush strokes.
11. Examine the surface from several angles to make sure you have covered the whole area. If any areas are heavy, brush those out if surface is still wet.
    • We use a cheap torchiere lamp with an extension cord to move on demand to illuminate the area which helps a lot.
12. Wipe any adjoining areas to make sure that no drips have run onto the other side.
    • Drips and runs will dry white and are hard to remove. In a worst-case scenario, use synthetic steel wool to attempt to scrub them off.
13. After the last coat is dry, apply a second coat.
    • 2 coats is usually never enough. 3 coats is usually sufficient for full coverage and sheen for interior items. 4 coats for exterior items.
    • If several hours have passed between coats, you will want to wipe down the surface once again to remove any settled dust.
14. Before the 3rd or 4th coat, use synthetic steel wool on the surface.
    • Don’t skip this step as it will smooth out any bubbles in the finish and create a nicer finish.
    • Don’t use real steel wool as you will leave steel fiber residue on the surface.
15. Again, wipe down surface with clean water and allow to dry.
16. Apply final coat.
17. Allow area to dry before subjecting to normal use. Usually a week is sufficient.

Fun with varnish!

A light first coat in progress.

Synthetic steel wool

Colored putty

After varnishing is complete, we use an oil-based putty to fill in any deep dings or nail holes. I chose a shade called “Nutmeg” that matched our stain color closely.

NOTE: Do not fill nail holes with oil-based putty before varnishing with water-based clear coat. We learned this the hard way. The varnish will create a bubble around the puttied areas. If using an oil-based coat, you may be able to use oil-based putty before varnishing, but we haven’t tested that and you definitely want the putty to dry first either way. We only use putty after varnishing is complete.

Colonnade before touch-ups and clear coats.

Our colonnade after 3 coats. It has a nice satin sheen.

6 Responses to “Wood Refinishing: Varnishing”

1. Sharon says:

   June 13, 2010 at 1:13 pm

   This is an AWESOME blog post! Thank you!!! I’m ready to start our wood stripping project soon.
2. Yolanda says:

   June 19, 2010 at 5:29 pm

   Fab glasses, too! Who makes them? LOVE the color combo.
3. Stephanie says:

   July 12, 2010 at 8:34 am

   The touch-up paint is a brilliant idea and the wood looks truly fantastic! beautiful, beautiful job! Wow~!!!
4. Dawn Peterson says:

   July 28, 2010 at 10:09 pm

   Yolanda, They are Maryam Zaim http://www.maryamzaim.com/acetate.html model C 5339 Coral/Cream
5. Linda says:

   August 15, 2010 at 8:41 pm

   Nice job Dawn. You take after your Grandma Coon. She spent days refinishing the woodwork in our house when we were little. That is a lot of work! I did a small chest of drawers and that was all I could handle!
6. Adam says:

   August 16, 2010 at 7:11 pm

   Turned out nice. I love all the information.