Finishing oak windows and doors

[skier-hughes]

Our oak is silvering nicely externally and we have used beeswax on the internal surfaces (not doors) in the kitchen, works well. Kitchen 4 x 8m. Mind you I oil our oak worktops with Aldi olive oil, which also works well.

I tried the holkhams linseed on or oak worktops, but it didn't work.

I resorted to Le Tonkinois marine No1, an excellent hard wearing product.

 

[JoceAndChris]

How exciting to be thinking of these details Flyfisher! But I was very very sorry to read of your torn retina, hope that's healing well now. It sounds very stressful and painful indeed. Wishing you all the best for a better New Year.

You've had so much good advice in this thread I hardly dare throw another in, but the oak in my kitchen (which is underground and rather damp as you will recall) has responded well to a "seal" with Holkams linseed oil followed by three coats of the Liberon beeswax, heated gently and applied with a rag, rubbed in with a stiff bristle brush, and buffed with a duster. The wax ought to be reapplied each year, if I get round to it, (and it is nice to feel you're giving the wood a bit of a clean and some attention) but the oil has already burnished and darkened it and that wouldn't go unless you were to sand the whole lot down. I do like the combination of oil, followed by wax, on all the wood here, it's time consuming but gives a rich deep lustre. Whichever you choose I'm sure it will look very nice indeed, and the wonderful thing about wood finishes is that they can be renewed over and over.

In my experience the condensation goes to the tiles and not the wood.

 

[Keith Bowman]

We used "Danish oil" on an oak kitchen draining board. After umpteen coats it now seems to be impervious to washing up drainings. I hope that is a good thing!

 

[Flyfisher]

Thanks Joce; the eye thing was certainly a bit worrying, though not at all painful, but so far the treatment seems to have worked.

As for thinking about such details, it's interesting how initially trivial-seeming, or even unthought of things, start to become more important as a project progresses and the big things are finished, or at least, well-underway. I must get around to posting some photo updates - I'm taking hundreds but am not good at sorting them all!).

Your suggestion was very interesting though; it hadn't occurred to me to combine the two options. I'm actually now leaning more towards a linseed oil finish, especially after Skiers' post about how quickly it can dry if applied warm. Really, my main concern is to avoid the internal finish being spoiled while the building works are finished. The thought of a sticky, oily finish in a dusty, dirty environment doesn't seem like a particularly good thing and I'm thinking that wax would be much easier to brush clean.

Anyway, in the time-honoured tradition of testing such things beforehand, I've already beeswaxed a piece of oak and am awaiting delivery of some Holkhams raw linseed oil for the other test. I've got a few weeks before the windows need to be fitted.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, please do post the photos of this very exciting project. I know it's going to put your house firmly into the 21st C giving it that cosiness and functionality we all expect our homes to provide. How wonderful it's underway! I can only dream of things actually happening, especially such major things.

Yes, oil followed by wax very traditional finish. Glad to read you're testing out what you like. We'll have you oiling waxing the floors next :wink: