How to THINK about staining wood. 

this is really a gem of a channel if you are trying to build a home

I appreciate your forthright opinions. It's about time someone called it ugly when it's ugly.

Ha. The more I work with wood the less stain. Thank you Brent.

Required viewing for anyone thinking about using wood as a decorative feature in their home. In the UK, the first significant evidence that I am aware of of wood being used decoratively in a building is post Norman (after 1066). The Normans used mainly stone for features such as archways but the doors themselves were timber featuring simple mouldings. I don’t know of any evidence that any treatment was applied to internal timber but I think it’s likely that some external timber was treated with tar or resin or similar. It appears to be late Medieval and early Tudor where the fashion for decorative timber was pronounced. Panelling, furniture and even some beams were decorated with carving or moulding. I don’t think any received any staining but it was inevitable that sheer time and the amount of smoke in houses with smoky candles and large fires would darken the timber. So, our view of Tudor woodwork is a darker colour. This seems to have continued through the Jacobean period but the Georgian period shows increasing use of paint (because it was a new product and lightened the interiors?). Along came the Victorians with all of their Gothic revival where the aesthetic was largely recreating the old styles. So, staining achieved that look without waiting for time. I’d suggest that, in the psyche, dark timber became symbols of age, sombreness, stability, status but that’s just my guess. “Staining” was also achieved by fuming and smoking wood although I’m note sure if the use of the word staining should only apply to the addition of a surface chemical. Many arts and crafts pieces in the UK were not treated in any way but a good proportion were fumed. Quarter sawn European oak is sold over here with a high premium. It is more wasteful and takes longer to mill and that all adds to cost but the main reason is the application of supply and demand; too little supply for the demand. You would have to double or triple your budget if you wanted 5,000 board feet of European oak but only clear quarter sawn - in fact, I’d say you might find it incredibly difficult at any price. Even then, it is likely that you will get the timber from trees grown at different altitudes, facing different directions (north, south, west, east), different latitudes, different species of quercus. The result will be that the timber would age naturally to different colours and, if treated, take the colour and reflect it back differently. You could, I guess, stain to an inch of its life but then lose much of the natural timber character. So, building upon what Brent has said, I would say that you don’t look for a uniform grain pattern and colour; avoid excesses but embrace the sheer beauty of wood being a natural material

Really helpful and great explanations. I have been a serious woodworker and furniture maker for 50 years and learned a number of things.

Wow you were fast to my request in the comments!

Helpful video Brent! I always hear the same thing from people "you need to use stain grade!" Or people automatically think stain grade is premium... Thanks for taking the time to explain it 🍻

Wow, very great info on staining that I never thought about. Glad I watched this before a big project.

We teach in order to learn. Only somebody hungry for knowledge would devote so much effort to youtube.🙂

Thank you Brent!!

Magical or a hot mess, love it. Great vid!

Another great video. Thank you for great installment!

Would be great to do a video on long leaf pine fir or other woods that were commonly used. Along with all the different finishes that were used.

Excellent useful info.

Most the time there no magic getting what you want with using just one stain color or one step. Sometime you need to stain twice with the same or two deferent colors or use a glaze .I make furniture for a living I hardly ever use oil base stains moist likely I am using lacquer base stains. Sometime you need to treat the wood before you stain. The biggest thing is, like you said you can't get an oak look out of pine. Like Alder wood is called the pour man Cherry because they look alike but stain so deferent. About everything I stain I use a glaze after I stain to get the look I am looking for. In Texas an M.L. Campbell dealer can really help you get what you looking for in stain and glaze.

Thanks. Really usefull!

Staining walnut is tricky, but can be done. I find it's more about evening out all the boards rather than trying to change the color. With respect to brown stains like on your quarter sawn oak for me it's about altering the red and green hues within the stain. It depends what you are going for. Most of the designers I worked with stay away from the reddish brown and move towards greenish brown and brown black. Also I disagree with staining maple. It's basically a white canvas that I can use to get any color I want, while achieving more depth through glazing because I don't have to compete with large grain patterns.

wow

Quarter sawn white oak IS beautiful BUT, I’d only use it for flooring, while cherry and mahogany are my trim/cabinet/furniture go-to species especially for the 1900-1920 era architectural style that I like (French provincial/eclectic).

Anyone else start giggling at 4:42?

“Some times you have a stain in a house and it just looks stupid!” I got nervous my house DIY project was about to show up

The sight of the antique wood with its nail holes got me thinking about all the times people will use reclaimed wood to give their house an old look. The problem is that an actual old house most likely wouldn't have been using reclaimed wood. So all those nail holes and other blemishes that we think are imparting a sense of age are really just evidence that the house recently had old wood added to it.

I recently learned that the arts and crafts period were very big on ammonia fuming. Would this have been large scale like trim work, panels, and moldings? Or mainly just limited to furniture?

Was clear pine ever used with a stain or shellac finish in the late 1800’s? I got a clear, even finish on ours through layering and todays stain technology, but really only used it because it’s what we could afford at the time. It looks nice, but I found you after our renovations and find myself wanting to go correct some things like mouldings and such.

Solid video. What's your thoughts on leaving wood raw on quarter sawn white oak cabinetry. Or a preferred matte finish that pulls the grays and browns and not the yellows?

Are you saying that unpainted wood floors have only been around since the Victorian era? This is surprising to me

just think about it really hard

Hope you cleared it with the wife before you used that bath towel!!!!