We moved here a few years ago, and have removed a few cielings. I kept as much wood as I could, from a house built in late 1890's. When we removed the kitchen cieling, I took some of the timbers and glued them up to make a bar counter. Its about 6' long, and 14" wide. The wood has holes, gaps and chips, as well as evidence of hardware once attached. I'll finish sanding and cutting to shape this week, but have no idea how to finish this. The first requirement is that I dont want to wood putty the holes and the like....the holes will add color and character. Poly-u would fill shallow divits, but would run right through the holes and cracks. Im also not convinced that poly-u would stand up well to use as a counter. I've never varnished anything, and don't know how that would fill gaps and voids. I am thinking about using a fiberglass resin....would perhaps dry quickly in the holes and voids, and might take a little more abuse than poly u. Part of the purpose of this bar sits atop the remains of a wall that was a whole wall, now a half wall. It will be a place to set grocceries, boxes of food and the like, as well as an eating surface near the kitchen. (Behind the roofing steel and wood bin in the pic). Thanks! Sca
Poly will be fine. I had a few coats on floors of last house that lasted 20 years. Cabinets were coated in poly, no issue. Holes can get plugged with a little piece of cloth or similar and pack it in. Fill with 5 minute JB weld epoxy and prep for poly. I made a barn wood cabinet top at a window in our mudroom. Several coats of poly and no issues. Didn't fill holes or cracks either.
I'm in agreement that the polyurethane will be more than fine. If you're really looking to have a thick coat on the wood and give the surface some depth you could go with something like bar top epoxy, but depending on what you're looking for that may or may not be the style you're after.
I dunked a peach in that stuff and it sat on a shelf for a couple years and never looked any different.
So to date, i used about a quart of poly, filling holes and voids. I caulked holes and voids from the under side, and filled them from the top w poly-u. Poly shrinks when it dries...some voids were over full, and now are concave. I have 2 finish coats on it, with a few more to go. The wood is whatever very oldschool 2x4's came out of the kitchen cieling (so fir?) and a chunk of wallnut that was here layin around. In between the 2x4's is pine stripping also repurposed from the old hung kitchen cieling. I kinda like all the voids and holes, and I wish I hadn't sanded the wood from it's "aged patina" if one can borrow the term for woodworking. But the wood was a bit warpy, and the glue-up was not 100% perfect. So sanding just to get a flat surface was necessary. Wood filler would have sanded out much better, as far as a flat surface. The poly-u holes are harder than the surrounding wood, so I had to work hard to keep the surface flat when knocking down built up poly u around the edges of the holes. But, if one were to shine a light down into a void, one could still see the sides of the void through the poly. (Pic). I do wonder if something like fiberglass resin would have worked better, the holes would have filled quicker, but I know nothing of sanding or the finish quality of that stuff. Sca
