Stain: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

Stain is an alternative surface coating to a clear sealer. A penetrating stain will provide similar protection to a sealer, but will also affect the wood's color and appearance. Depending on the stain, it can make the finished appearance lighter or darker, and make wood grain more or less pronounced.

Because it is coloring the wood surface, more care needs to be taken in the application of stain to get a uniform finished appearance. Stain is spread on the wood surface then wiped off with rags - even the time between spreading and wiping can affect the finished results. At Unalam, we glue, fabricate, and finish in the same building using the same personnel and processes, so all glulam members will match in the finished building.

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.