Prior to gel staining cabinets i had a lot of experience working with regular wood stain but i had never worked with gel stain.
Gel stain garage door before and after.
Using a foam brush i applied two coats of helmsman s spar urethane you can get it here.
We were in the middle of washing it here.
Step 4 drying.
In contrast to regular wood stain gel stain does not need to be wiped off or rubbed in.
Between the gel stain on the vanity and the new mirror this bathroom had left its aging past behind.
Before after doing the gel stain the finished project after my pavers were cleaned the following day.
Part of the process of staining a garage door to look like wood is using brush strokes to allow the base color to come through just a little to give it that woodgrain look.
Gel stain usually dries very quickly especially on a sunny day.
I was thrilled with how it turned out.
After the first coat of gel stain is applied you will need to let it dry before adding another layer.
In case you missed the original gel stained garage door tutorial you can read all about it here.
The gel stain gets a bit darker as it cures and i would ve preferred a mid brown color but that wasn t available.
Lucky for me i already had a full quart of this in my garage from another project.
However you can apply a second coat after the first has.
One area in which gel stain is tied neck and neck with its traditional counterparts its drying time.
However the garage door will need to sit for up to 48 hours to allow the stain to dry completely.
Or you can follow the direction of the garage door pattern.
Most neutral colors would work great for this but if you ve got a bright or bold garage door color you may consider painting it neutral before adding the gel stain.
Make sure the door surface is free of all dirt and foreign matter.
Below is a before and after of the gel stain used on the bathroom vanity.
Of course no stain is perfect.
Gel stained garage door.
Ash wood grain garage doors are a low maintenance free option.
But here s a look at what the garage door looked like right before we stained it.
Stir minwax gel stain until creamy before use and occasionally during use.
One coat of stain will usually suffice for most garage doors.
For ease of staining and finishing it is recommended that you finish the door before installation.
After your gel stain has completely cured we waited about a week you will need to apply a wood protectant specifically designed to withstand sun and weather exposure.
I love how my garage door turned out and the front of my house is really looking gorgeous these days.