Stain and Seal - Cabot Polystain

'All in one' tools and products for the most part disappoint as they compromise their functionality for utility. Multi function tools like swiss army knives and leatherman tools, while the best of breed in those categories, are still not good screwdrivers, pliers or saws.

Preserving exterior wood is a challenge regardless of where you live. There are paints, stains, sealers, and other coatings.

There is a good solution to the stain seal work. Cabot Polystain is a stain and polyurethane in one can.

I recently used it on a door refinish project for a client. The doors had not been worked on in 10 years and the Arizona sun had  beat them up.

Here is one of the doors before. The original finish has  dissolved and the wood was dry. I had to do these doors in place, so I taped off the glass and trims, sanded with a pad sander, foam sanding blocks and green scotch brite pads.

The first coat was a heavy coat as the wood sucked it up like a vampire having breakfast. Took almost 1/2 a quart to cover the area with the first coat.

I resanded the doors to remove loose bits of crap stuck in the finish and applied the second coat.

It came out quite nicely. Probably good for another 10 years.

The polystain is a medium bodied product that goes on semi smoothly but requires you to work quickly, as the poly begins to set up, and because of the stain, does not allow you a lot of working time to smooth things out.

It also stains a lot lighter than the card would have you think, which is a bit unusal for darker stains. It is an acceptable product for staining and sealing, but is no substitute for stripping, sanding,staining, and sealing. But it is a lot faster, especially where time is a factor.