[QUOTE=Libby2563;8955107]
I waited 1.5 years to stain my stalls (pine boards, oak framing, PT kickboards). A lot of manufacturers recommend that you wait until the wood is less new. There were no ill effects. The only problem is that you will then have to clean off the dust, caked-on manure, bird crap, and other filth before you can do it. For that reason alone, I would probably not wait if I had to do it again.[/QUOTE]
What?? Not trying to be snarky but I would like to know the name of the “lots of manufacturers” and see this statement in writing and the reasons for.
I am not a “wood worker” by trade but I have been “working” with wood my whole life. I pretty much build everything myself. Cabinets, trim and lots of farm infrastructure.
Be it stall doors or cabinets manufactures or cabinet fabricators use kiln dried wood. Just like hay it is dried to a specific moisture level before being shipped.
Cabinet, furniture etc fabricators will allow time for a new shipment of wood to acclimate to their shops “climate” humdity levels, heat, etc before being used because they are making things that generally require close, exacting joints and finished look. Once finished and sealed the wood will not “move” much because ambient climate where the finished product will be used does not come into play much.
When new unfinished wood floors are being installed the material should be delivered and left inside the house for X amount of time to acclimate to the house’s ambient “climate” before being installed and finished.
Stall fronts are not exactly fine furniture. Depending on the quality of the materials used there will be a certain amount of “movement” of the wood joints after delivery. This is to be expected. How much “movement” in the joints depends on location. Unlike houses that are for the most part climate controlled barn are not. Even “finished” wood in barns is going to “move” around a lot more than the same in a house.
This is why a “battens” are used on board and batten siding. The boards expand and contract with ambient humidity. The batten (wood strip) is placed over the “gap” between the boards to seal the interior from the weather. But they are supposed to be center nailed, 1 nail in between the 2 boards. This allows the boards to expand and contract. If the batten is nailed to the side of both boards the the batten will eventually split, nails pop and the batten comes loose.
There are a number of ways of manufacturing pre-made stalls. stall fronts. Most especially on the economical side of things build, weld metal channel frames and the unfinished boards are slipped into the channels. The channels have a designed amount of “gap” to allow for expansion and contraction on either end. This “gap” is hidden by the channel. By and large the individual wood members move in unison and the expansion of the whole unit results on the hidden ends.
Ideally unfinished wood butted together should be sealed, finished when the ambient humidity level are at their lowest. The wood has contracted to it lowest point. So when it expands as humidity level rise it will tighten. If sealed/finished when ambient humidity levels are high and then drops the unfinished/sealed gaps can be very visible and annoying. This is very easily seen on walls that bead board has been used. Painted or clear finished.
I learned this hard lesson in my early years of DIY projects.
Considering the the cost of of stalls I completely understand why people want to make sure they look like “furniture” after writing a big check. The same as being meticulous about keeping a new farm car/truck clean. But after a couple of months most of us capitulate to the fact that it is a loosing proposition.
Unfinished wood easily “stains” gets blemished on the surface from an number of things. Even in a house. In a barn environment much more so. A lot of these “blemishes” will not be that visible to the eye until a sealer is applied. If not completely sanded before sealing shortly after delivery and installation. These barely noticeable “blemishes” will stick out like a sore thumb.
“The only problem is that you will then have to clean off the dust, caked-on manure, bird crap, and other filth before you can do it. For that reason alone, I would probably not wait if I had to do it again”
Exactly my point. The rule of diminishing returns kicks in. As I am sure you found out by following the manufacturers recommendations. Recommendations that were self serving. But in all fairness it is most likely because a lot of people have unrealistic expectations. They want a big bang for their buck but expect to pay as little as possible. I call it the ‘Walmart effect’.
OP, all paint, sealers will state on the label the lowest average ambient temps it should be applied at. To cover their butts it is usually higher than actually needed. IMO and experience poly should dry just fine in the 50s and high 40s at night. It may take longer but the end result should be fine. But you don’t want to apply it in this temp range if humidity levels are high.
I’ve fired up one of those big heaters that burn just about any sort of fuel (gas, diesel, kerosene) and sounds like a jet engine, and even in a barn with open dutch doors in the stalls but the big doors open, it has made it warm enough to take off heavy jackets and be ok in hoodies.
The death of my dad, deciding if we were staying in Indy longer term and the sale of a parcel of land and PA threw off my scheduling. I know I’m fretting over 1st world problems, it’s just such a huge investment and honestly- a dream come true to have this barn redone.