Should Maple Stained With American Walnut Look Like This?

6 years ago

I fell in love with the sample piece of maple wood stained with American Walnut by Walzcraft. However, my finished cabinets are not at all what I was expecting. I believe the front panel on the right side is the color I was expecting. After I received the photo and went to see the cabinet in person, I looked up issues staining maple wood. Is this common? Is there a way to get the result I want and was expecting based on a 4 x 4 sample?

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PRO

StarCraft Custom Builders

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

The company's position is crapola!

If the cabinet company cannot produce a better finish, it needs to get out of the business. There is some variation in wood that will vary the tone of any stain, but that's not the problem here. This is just poor craftsmanship.

You should reasonably expect the finished result to look like the sample. It does not, so your concern is legitimate.

You should insist that it be done right, or refuse to pay for it.

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Comments (8)

User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Not using that woodworker. He is not a finisher. We’ve seen a lot of dreck in here. That’s a Top 20, “But I Thought He was. Cabinet Guy”
Jessica Bryan thanked User
Jessica Bryan
Original Author
6 years ago
The woodworker only built the cabinet and ordered the doors from a company that makes and stains the doors.
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User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Worser and worset. You needed a real custom cabinet maker, not a fauxpreaux parts assembler.

Get your money back, and find someone else who is real. Or buy something from a manufactured line. Any would be better than that.
Jessica Bryan thanked User
klem1
6 years ago
I 100% agree with everything live_wire said. I'm only chiming in to caution diyers about pitfalls of staining maple. First off,just don't stain maple unless you can't find a different wood. What you see in the example above is blotching,for which maple is well known for. If you must stain maple,use pre-stain conditioner to "help" control uneven stain absorption which lead's to this condition. Pros use shellac because it cost's less but that take's practice and skill.
Jessica Bryan thanked klem1
PRO
StarCraft Custom Builders
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Maple is hard to stain, and the darker the stain the more obvious the problems. That being said, there are some tricks to evening out the stain that the person who did this work obviously did not know about.

Here is an example of what it should look like:
Jessica Bryan thanked StarCraft Custom Builders
Jessica Bryan
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you StarCraft Custom Builders. I feel horrible because it isn’t what we asked for but I’m being told that this is what happens when you work with natural wood. Im being told that the only option I have is to have them paint it. I feel like it’s my fault for not knowing. But also very upsetting because I am not the professional. I can’t believe that anyone would find this acceptable to sell as a finished product. Thank you so much for the photo. The sample I chose is below. I don’t know what to do. With everything going on, we never paid the deposit and it feels so wrong to tell them that we won’t accept it because they won’t fix it. I’ve also contacted Walzcraft But I don’t now where that is going to get me. Except, further clarification that it was an error and lack of experience that caused this, and that it is avoidable.

Thank you all for the help
klem1
6 years ago
What he ^^^^ said.
Jessica Bryan thanked klem1