Is it "refinishing" or actually "re-coating"?
Over the years church pews get very greasy. You can see it in particular on the top rails and seats. Hand oils are very pungent. They can rub off every type of finish known to man. Once that has been done then those same hands grind black, dirty grease deep into the wood grain. That’s not a substrate that more top coats of finish will properly adhere to. A light sanding doesn’t remove it. It takes just plain good old elbow grease to get it out using mild solvents to assist. A new top coat sitting on greasy soiled finish is more likely to stick to YOU than the finish below. That explains why pews will feel sticky on hot humid summer days.
Minwax
stain has wax in it. It always has. (Thus the name.) Even with the addition of
Japan Dryers
it takes at least a full day in air conditioned spaces and sometimes two or three days to dry in humid air. There are pew refinishing companies who use Minwax as a top coat over existing soiled finish. Worse yet they are spraying it INSIDE the church.
Over time hand wear will destroy this weak finish easily. You’ll be lucky to get 5 years out of it. I’ve seen it, stripped it off (it rinses off like water on a duck’s back), and listened to the stories about how the budget was tight etc.
It’s best to wait until the church can afford to do the church pew refinishing in a durable manner than to do this deeply flawed compromise. In my humble opinion, it’s simply 100% wasted money.
And, of course, we’d love to help you do your project well.
or call us today. (Don’t worry. I promise! I’m not always this grumpy!)
V Scott Beddome
262-527-8969 cell