wood walls and recycled big timbers - best finish to use?

[sandstonehouse]

Hi all again
We have some recycled wood walls - mainly red ironbark, grey ironbark, tallowood - these are dressed and various colors from dark red to pale red, dark to pale brown and pale yellow. Also we have some big recycled timber posts and beams which have been roughly finished with a grinder to get the grey surface off.

We want to use a natural looking matt to low sheen finish which is easy to apply. Also want to do minimal recoating over time.

Does anyone have any feedback on the following?

1. Sikkens Cetaol TS Interior - looks natural on the sample we did, but a concern is whether it will go yellow on the blonder timbers - like our ceiling did when we used a non-yellowing Cabots product.

2. Treatex whittlewax - not commonly used here, looks rich and lustrous but darkens the timber more.

3. Waterbased polyurethane finishes eg Haymes Aqualac etc. A bit more shiny with some film buildup.

Any other suggestions?

Even whether it might not be necessary to coat the big posts and beams - the roof is now on the house - but we definitely dont want them to go grey.

We want to make a good choice, as there is so much timber we dont want to have to remove the product if if does not work.

Thanks for your time and feedback.
Sandstonehouse

PS Will attach some pictures when I get a chance.

[Michael Breen]

Your house sounds wonderful, Sandstone. We have had the same issue with Jarrah doors and floor in Perth and now in N.S.W. with white cedar or some kind of recycled pine wallboards, and old oregon. We have used Cabots interior Crystal Clear. The result is OK. There seems to be no perfect way to deal with this dilemma. If you leave the boards or timber as it is, it goes grey in time. (I am not sure this is not the best way to go) If you put any coating on the boards you will get darkening. In Perth we used Sikkens and the overall job worked, but I understand teh yellowing problem, and I think it works better outside than inside. We are using 100 yr old oregon 4x2 as beams and I am leaving them rough sawn. They are darker than new stuff, but that is just their age and personality.
All the best and I hope someone can offer better advice.
Michael

[sandstonehouse]

Michael
Thanks for this. What Sikkens product did you use inside and how did it perform? Did it go yellow? Were the timbers blond, brown, red or yellow? Roughsawn or dressed?

When you say better outside than inside what timbers (ie species and was it deck or posts etc) did you put it on outside and what product was it?

Thanks a lot
Sandstonehouse