Finishing issue on Doug fir trim

[mtnlaw]

Hello, this is my first post on joining.

I am building a house and our Doug fir trim is going up. We did a partial timberframe using Doug fir posts & beams. My issue is this: we had the trim prefinished by the company that also did the prefinishing on our exterior fiber cement siding and Miratec trim. They did a great job on that. But the fir trim is a big disappointment. First, the wood itself is much lighter than the timberframing. I know the timbers have aged and darkened since they were put up 6 months ago. I really wanted the darker look for the trim. The company used a water-borne poly called Durathane, two coats. It is rough and shiny looking in many places (maybe raised the grain?). I'm really disappointed and don't know what I can do to rectify the appearance.

Does water-borne poly inhibit the natural darkening process on Doug fir? I don't want that. Is there anything I can apply over the current topcoat? Maybe a combination stain/poly like Zar Plus? Can I darken the finish?

Thanks for any help.

 

[JimmyC]

Welcome mtnlaw,

First thing though, you may want to go into the forums and introduce yourself through the "who we are".

As far as waterborne poly goes, I have always found that it goes on clear and stays that way, where as regular poly goes on and gives a yellowish/slightly amber color that I personally like.

I think that you should be able to go over water/ poly with any other type of poly, but I'm not sure. If you have a product in mind (Zar-Plus) then you should try to contact them and ask them about the compatability of there product with what you have now.

Zar's ph #. is 1-800-UGL-LABS and their website is:

http://www.ugl.com/zarWoodFinishing/zarWoodStain.php

Good Luck,