The way some folks skip the grain filler on open-pore woods like oak before staining makes me cringe every single time.

I mean, I watched a guy at a local shop in Boise do it on a whole set of chairs last month, and the stain just pooled in the pores making this awful, blotchy mess that took me 3 hours to fix after he gave up.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ryan11d ago

Skipping grain filler is a sure way to ruin a project. That pooling stain is so hard to fix once it sets. The trick is to use a paste wood filler, let it dry fully, and sand it back smooth before you even open the stain can. It adds a step but saves so much headache and wasted stain. What kind of finish were you putting over it?

gavinw4511d ago

My buddy's oak table looked awful, @the_ryan. He skipped that step.

olivia_rivera8810d ago

Watching that happen is the worst. My uncle tried to stain some oak shelves without filler once and they ended up looking like a muddy mess. He just painted over them in the end.