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Grey wood.. can it be restored to its original colour?

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Stephen H

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May 19, 2013, 4:38:52 PM5/19/13
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Hi,

I have a BTL house.

I fitted a new hardwood front door and frame about 3 years ago.

I painted it with clear yacht varnish. it has been painted twice again
since then.

I only started letting it out 15 months ago.

In the meantime, The yacht varnish has flaked off. The now exposed wood
has weathered and gone a silvery grey.

Can the greyed wood be restored back to its original colour and
re-varnished with clear varnish? if so, how?

Otherwise I am resigned to either:

(a) sanding whole door and frame back down to a varnish free state, and
staining with a dark brown stain (to hide the grey wood) and
re-varnishing with a clear varnish.

(b) ripping out door and frame to replace with a white UPVC door set to
match the rest of the house windows.

Regards,

Stephen.

Tim+

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May 20, 2013, 5:04:34 PM5/20/13
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I'm pretty sure chandlers sell stuff (bleach?) to restore wood colour in
faded timbers. Never tried it myself.

Tim

meow...@care2.com

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May 20, 2013, 5:18:33 PM5/20/13
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On Sunday, May 19, 2013 9:38:52 PM UTC+1, Stephen H wrote:

> I fitted a new hardwood front door and frame about 3 years ago.
> I painted it with clear yacht varnish. it has been painted twice again
> since then.
> I only started letting it out 15 months ago.
> In the meantime, The yacht varnish has flaked off. The now exposed wood
> has weathered and gone a silvery grey.
> Can the greyed wood be restored back to its original colour and
> re-varnished with clear varnish? if so, how?

stain it golden?


NT

Rick Hughes

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May 20, 2013, 5:43:30 PM5/20/13
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Oxalic acid used to be the product, if you can't but easily ...
BarKeepers friend contains it.

Peter Parry

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May 20, 2013, 6:22:07 PM5/20/13
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On Sun, 19 May 2013 21:38:52 +0100, Stephen H
<i.lov...@please.spam.me.com> wrote:

>I painted it with clear yacht varnish. it has been painted twice again
>since then.

Was that the B&Q Yacht Varnish that rather confusingly says on the tin
"not for external use"?

Jim K

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May 20, 2013, 6:48:11 PM5/20/13
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Bacon Tomato Lettuce?

Jim K

harry

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May 21, 2013, 3:43:58 AM5/21/13
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> Stephen.Ads not by this site

Wood dye/coloured varnish?

Mark Bluemel

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May 21, 2013, 3:52:24 AM5/21/13
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On May 20, 11:48 pm, Jim K <jk989...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Bacon Tomato Lettuce?
>
> Jim K

Big ToiLet

Andrew May

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May 21, 2013, 3:52:48 AM5/21/13
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On 19/05/2013 21:38, Stephen H wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a BTL house.
>
> I fitted a new hardwood front door and frame about 3 years ago.
>
> I painted it with clear yacht varnish. it has been painted twice again
> since then.
>
> I only started letting it out 15 months ago.
>
> In the meantime, The yacht varnish has flaked off. The now exposed wood
> has weathered and gone a silvery grey.

I had a similar problem with an oak garage door. I stripped it and used
a wood cleaner[1] with a bit of sanding to get it back to a nice colour
and then finished with OSMO UV Protection Oil
<http://www.osmouk.com/previewpage.cfm?bookid=book001&chapter=57&page=121>.
Still looks good after three years.

Andrew

[1] I can't for the life of me remember the name but still have some so
could take a look this evening. IIRC it came from somewhere around
Glasgow. Not that that is much help.

fred

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May 21, 2013, 5:04:24 AM5/21/13
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On Sunday, May 19, 2013 9:38:52 PM UTC+1, Stephen H wrote:
It should come back with a good sanding.

The best long term solution I have found, bar none, is Epifanes High Gloss Clear Varnish,

http://www.epifanes.com/

applied as per their spec., up to seven coats, it is extremely long lasting. I did a garden bench with it over 5 years ago and bar touch up once a year it is still in excellent condition.

An easier alternative which we use on a wood framed gazebo, is Osmo. Very thin so easy to apply. Renewed once a year (this Gazebo sits in full sunlight) it stands up to it well.

I can email you a pdf report on exterior grade finished if you p.m. me off group

Rick Hughes

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May 21, 2013, 5:23:20 AM5/21/13
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The problem with any varnish is that once it cracks .. water gets in and
under ... and soon by capillary action it starts peeling.

If you want to avoid that then use a micro-porous wood finish (Sikken
Filter 7 etc.)

stuart noble

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May 21, 2013, 4:03:06 PM5/21/13
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I've never been able to get rid of the grey by chemical means, and that
includes oxalic and peroxide

Andrew May

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May 22, 2013, 4:48:43 AM5/22/13
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On 20/05/2013 22:43, Rick Hughes wrote:

> Oxalic acid used to be the product, if you can't but easily ...
> BarKeepers friend contains it.
>
<http://www.agwoodcare.co.uk/Item/oxalic_acid>

Andrew May

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May 22, 2013, 4:53:38 AM5/22/13
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Just had a look. The cleaner that I used was Osmo Wood Reviver. This is
a liquid in a bottle but that seems not to be available now. They have
something similar in a gel form, which may be easier to use but I don't
know if it is the same formulation.

<http://www.osmouk.com/previewpage.cfm?bookid=book001&chapter=2&page=132>

Andrew
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