# wipe on stain clear coat more stain (layers)



## tiggol (Mar 15, 2010)

Hey there this is tig, 

I just finished redoing :dance3: a 80 foot oak hand and banister this week. I stripped the the oak with Dads Striper, washed my wood with paint thinner and then spent many hours sanding this:shout: by hand. I then stained it with a wipe on stain. HE COMES THE PROB. I thought i was done staining so i went on to poly my rails ( clear coat water base ) first coat looked great, i let it dry. then put on the secound coat. I went home for the night, came back the next the day to find the clear coat had cracked in several places.I was not sure what to do so i started to sand the rails again a lite sand turned into a a spotty rough job. So now i have an oak rail in a 5 million dollar house (Iam crapping my pants) I am a ROOKIE. I then did what i thought might just work, i added more stain to the now bar spots. It looks great again. but now iam worried about the clear coat. Well i go and put a clear coat over top my Stain. Hand RAIL Go AS FOLLOWS stain , two coats poly, more stain, a little more sanding more stain, then four coats of clear coat. I got to say it looks wonderful and feels even better. But the question I have is are the home owners going to call me back in two months and tell me there hand rail is peeling or chipping ? I know that normally you never clear coat until you are sure that you are ready. But why did it crack in the first place? Was it left over striper? Was there maybe not enough drying time? 
I dont know any info you can give me would super. Please help.....


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

If I understand, It sounds like You did it right. Was the stain a water base also? I always shudder when striper's are used, as they can soak in and raise I am not a expert by any anyones standard, but i try not to mix water base and chemical based products at all. The best You can do at this point is to inspect it at a later date, and talk with some company troubleshooters. It may give you some help with the next job. wish You good luck. One more note. try never to change brands in between coats.


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Sounds like your products are not compatible with each other. Try using a sanding sealer after stain & before poly coat of finish. I try to keep all water base, water base & oil base, oil base. Sanding sealer is a shelac base product & pretty much is campatible with most products. Sometimes to check if products are compatible check with what they suggest to use for cleanup. Poly can be picky on what it is applied over. Sanding sealer is usually ok. Do a compatabilty test before applying to project so you don't have to keep redoing it.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

+1 on your post, James.. Also, Howard.. make sure the shellac is *de-waxed*, as otherwise the Poly will not stick.


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

BigJimAK said:


> +1 on your post, James.. Also, Howard.. make sure the shellac is *de-waxed*, as otherwise the Poly will not stick.


Good point. It's the only kind I buy so I forget to mention it sometimes.


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## awoodnut (May 2, 2009)

Hello Tig

I am in the learning curv on finishes and I have got good help by emailing the finish manufacturer in several cases. They have been very helpfull and fairly prompt.

Good luck.
Mike


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## tiggol (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks guys for all your help. The costmer had not called back.
So the job must still be sweet. Now your right ( of coarse) 
Water base to water and oil to oil. But these two, oil base stain
And water base poly seem to work very well together just
As long as you let the stain dry well. But still scary.


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