I am in the process of building a new home and have run into a major staining issue. All the custom woodwork was done in maple. Cabinets, stairs, railings, floor, wainscotting and window trim. I was hoping to acheive a honey tone. The original painter stained all the wainscotting using an oil based MinWax wood stain. It came out very splotchy and looked horrible. It had to be sanded down and needs to be redone, but no painter has been able to acheive the results I am looking for on the sample pieces I have supplied. I know there has to be a way to get maple to take color, but nobody seems to be able to do it. HELP!
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An oil stain will not work to achive the results you want. You need to find a source for a hot stain that is lacquer or toluene based, You best bet would be a custom cabinet shop, or paint retailer. The only way to apply this is to spray until the desired tone is achived.
I'm suprised that a pre-stain didn't work. This works very well on pine.
This board can be very helpful, but the people you really need are woodworkers. Go to wood magazines website and their community forums. Post your question under finishes. Someone there will have had experience staining maple. The addy is http://www.woodmagazine.com/
