To try to remove the existing stain would be unbelievably labor intensive. Anything can be done if you are crazy enough to foot the bill. There are scenarios where it is actually less expensive to re-trim the woodwork than to try to refinish it.

You have new windows? You're not painting those then, right?

Maybe David has the right answer. If the new is botched, just do it over. Don't sand everything down again.

What species of wood got botched?

We have a mix of old windows (circa late 90's) and new - they are stain grade anderson casement windows. Would you advise against painting the trim of those?

The botched stain job is on pine - which was what our carpenter thought most of our original wood was.

Would you replace our old trim and our new trim in that case?

Pine is hard to stain. It's soft, and it takes stain inconsistently which is where the blotchy comes in.

The wood windows can be ordered from the factory pre primed. Since you didn't do that I assume you were going to stain.

So it's hard for a stranger on the Internet to gauge: what is the posters expectation? Perfection? Or is just achieving a certain look good enough. Low tolerance for imperfection? For example, from the photos I can't see that the trim is ruined.

Importance of the authenticity of the restoration? Then maybe allow some imperfections in the stain.

When someone wants to paint the woodwork in my mind I think "Fixer Upper." Not a fan. But I just painted a house full of pine woodwork because it was not attractive and the house wasn't some kind of museum place.

So not sure how this helps except to say that some of your questions can't be answered!

Good luck!

Yes its worth the effort - but just use a heavier bodied stain to simplify things- ie gel stain (dont be too heavy handed with it) or ZAR brand stains are great for evening out tone of different woods. Your existing color kinda looks like Nutmeg (general finishes gel stain).

Not seeing that you have to remove all the previous stain - in fact by leaving on a certain amt of old finish youll leave the wood sealed so as to avoid blotching. If the different wood is really substantially different in color maybe youd want to apply a base coat in similar color as the other trim. Just evenly and smoothly sand off some of the shine of the varnish (if any is left,doesnt look like it) and also the sanding gives some "tooth" for the new stain coat to adhere to. (fine grit like 180- 220 . dont want to leave scratches or roughness). If you inadvertently sand off a littlemore stain in some places,d ont worry, itll be good once you get new finish on.

I honestly dont see that this is much more work than doing a good paint job - you would need to sand/prep for that anyway.

Post in the woodworking forum for more detailed advice - get some similar wood and experiment first on that re: color and technique. The only tricky part I see is around window casings where the crank is - if that can be taken apart it would make it easier

What is being described in the above post is not "staining", but more like glazing with a brushing stain. "Brushing stains" are heavy bodied and designed to be merely brushed on and left, without wiping. Brushing stains have driers in them so that the liquid will dry out. Penetrating stains if left on such a surface would not dry and interfere with the drying and bonding of the subsequent varnish coat. This process is usually done with a fine oxhair brush. Oxhairs are not normally stocked by most paint stores as they are quite expensive - $25 for a 2 inch brush.

Use of a penetrating stain would require the total removal of previous varnish coats and as much as the old stain color as will come out, but you will never get all the old color. Sanding is not a good option. The floor guys that sand your floors are using powerful sanders and removing about 1/16th of an inch of wood. This is impossible on woodwork or cabinetry.

David, thats not how Ive used them or what I was describing. These are wiping stains - read their websites if you dont believe me - and by wiping on one can easily control the level of transparency or intensity of color. The value of them is a greater degree of uniformity of color vs what youd get from a penetrating stain. If a lighter, more transparent look is desired then just do one lighter coat. The fact that these are flat surfaces and that it looks like very minimal sanding needed (not shiny) imho makes staining a good option.

Obviously if one's skill level is not up to it, the results might not be so good. But that applies to any method.... incl painting.

Agree that the heavy sanding + penetrating stain you describe is not a good option.

I would paint it all, except for the beams as you stated. I notice as a painter these days that the trend is away from stain, and especially dark stain and your wood is pine so that is a factor as well. Pine isn't exactly a glorious type of wood that people strive to restore. You could also consider leaving the doors stained as those are flush so they would be easy to orbit sand and re-stain if needed. Also, why do they run the casing on the doorways and windows all the way to the ceiling and the floor? Is that just the style? It looks like the carpenter was in a hurry.

As OP stated, its a quality MCM house and they love it as is and are honoring its original intention. A lot of contemporary & high-end architecture and design uses wood & wood tones incl not only the usual array of browns but blacks/charcoals and whitewashed and colors - I certainly would NOT use "everyone else is doing it" as a sole reason for slapping on some white paint!

Now a dark/medium charcoal stain.... hmmmmm, that could look exquisite plus cover up all your flaws.

Question: if its the painter who botched the staining job then why isnt HE the one to correct it... at no charge one would hope?

Well OK, good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks All - I am adding a few more pictures of details of the issues. They are pretty representative of the entire job. He used a Sherwood Chestnut Alkyd stain, and then applied a weathered wood wiping stain on top. Then 2 coats of sprayed varnish that created a fog across all the wood. It seems like that might have been flawed methodology from the onset. And coupled with his level of skill, and no prep work or wood conditioner got us where we are.

The first painter I talked to about re-doing the job suggested sanding to remove the varnish, then reapplying a penetrating stain. Sounds like this has no chance of working?

Paintguy22- The trim was done in that manner to match the original trim of the house (doors and windows all trimmed that way). Thanks for the perspective on pine. I had also considered fixing the doors only, and then painting the trim. However, after talking to our carpenter it is not possible to remove the pocket doors without re-doing the trim. Even if we can get the doors to look decent, I am not sure if we should paint the trim white or slightly darker than the walls in that case.

Jn 3344 - Ouch, fixer upper? obviously not our original intent or I wouldn't be here :) Windows were not ordered primed, as we did not plan on painting. How would you move forward with the windows there if we decide to paint?

Current resident - We had considered a darker stain. And we still might go that route but I am unsure if there will be too much going on with our parquet flooring. Going towards charcoal color might be a good thing to test out.

When I complained to our original painter, he doubled the price he had originally quoted! So we fired him. Now he is claiming he has had expenses in excess of his original estimate already - and he hasn't even painted the walls or ceilings of our house, which were part of the original job. I am unsure of what to do here - we haven't paid him anything, and he's definitely cost us far more money than we'd agreed to pay him - ruining 8 new casement windows, a sliding door, 7 pocket doors, and all our new trim.

Yea, it seems people are treating painting the trim like it's some sort of sin. It's pine. It would be different if it was oak or some kind of expensive wood that looks fantastic when stained properly. Also, it's important to understand that what you are asking may not be possible or at best, may be difficult to find someone to do it that won't charge through the roof. It would be a trial and error type thing staining over varnish and if the person doing it doesn't have a whole lot of experience doing it, the stain can certainly end up looking smeared on in places. Also, when you strip wood or 'get most of it off' the wood is not like new. It's wood that has been stripped and sometimes you will still need to fuss with the stain to get it to penetrate or to look right. This is why it just may be better to get new trim. At least then you are sure where you are starting from.

By the way, your last photo looks like the carpenter smeared glue around the joint and that's why the stain didn't penetrate there. Carpenters should not be using glue on raw wood that is to be stained and this is one of the main reasons that we stain all trim prior to install. That way, the carpenters can go nuts with the glue.

I see it now.

Your casings seem like they are in good shape. There are plenty of examples where doors and windows are stained, but the other trims are painted. Here's one. Not exactly the style but an idea.

My parents 1969 house had slab doors, stained walnut. And a beam. And a wall of windows, also very dark brown. But the rest of the trim, like sliders, window trim, door casings, baseboards, etc. were painted.

I don't know how much those vertical trim pieces (1x2's?) are doing for you. I haven't seen that treatment much. You could remove it and replace it with a paintable, more tailored trim.

Lakeside Living · More Info

No one said it was a "sin" - op wanted to honor original esthetic so I thought (and still do) there are ways of keeping the wood without the need to sand it back to totally bare wood.

Obviously there are times when paint is the best thing... and yep this may be one of them. But then I always like to ask - why must it be white? There is a long history of painted wood going back centuries. White painted trim really is a 2000s thing - previous poster's reference to Fixer Upper had more than just a grain of truth to it....

Why not take one of your browns or charcoal grays and find a color that is not exactly the same, but relates well to those....? That would keep the MCM vibe going a little bit better than white I think...

OK now Im done.

I agree with Current Resident. I would try a slightly darker stain.

Dana, is there an architect known for MCM restoration in your area that will come and do a consult for you and hopefully recommend a tradesperson to work with?

Well, I thought about this dilemma over the treadmill.

So regardless, the "stain and poly" job is completely unsatisfactory. The glue, the blue haze. Amateurish.

You might post some photos on the Home Decorating forum. There are interior design pros and mid century aficionados who may lend some insight.

I keep wracking my brain trying to remember where I saw trim treatment like you have. The continued vertical floor to ceiling. I think it is rare to see. So if we knew more about the origin it might help.

Current Resident suggested a third option. Gray or brown paint.

There are a lot of examples of the later. Black-brown (architectural bronze) and in these mid century remodels looks quite striking.

Here's a gray, with the walnut tones.

Balcones Modern Residence - After · More Info

They have boxed the white wall with the trim in places.

Anyway, good luck! I would love to know how it turns out.

Staining new wood to match old stained wood isn't easy. Different parts of different trees from different forests grown at different times.

Staining wood that's all from the same tree is difficult enough to match.