finishing pine t&g ceiling?

[rwanders]

I will soon arrive at the point in my cabin project where I have to prefinish about 800 sq ft of 1x6 pine t&g before installing it on the cathedral ceiling. After several trips to the stain and finish aisles I am rapidly becoming more and more confused. I would like to achieve a very light or clear finish that also has a soft sheen. Durability like I would need for flooring is obviously not a critical aspect. What is important to me is ease of application and quick drying since indoor space to work with is limited. If I could get all this with one coat----that would be "priceless". Would really like to avoid sanding between coats if more than one is required.  Any advice gratefully received. I am leaning towards a wipe on waterborne poly or some kind of penetrating oil finish--?

[ScottA]

Wipe on poly is probly your best best. It's not the cheapest but it's easy.

[alcowboy]

800 sq ft TNG pine flooring
$$
Rollers and varnish
$$
One coat application
"priceless"

guess u were going for a Visa commercial.   

[Redoverfarm]

rwanders that is what I just finished doing 1400 sf of for my ceiling.  I used an oil based Olympic stain, semi transparent which I applied with a sprayer then back brushed.  After about 3-4 hours I followed up with Mimwax Polycrylic (water based) Satin.  They make Gloss and semi-gloss as well.  I chose satin because it does not glare when the light hits it.  I really like the product as you can re-coat in 15 min.  But it is on the pricey side. Here it is about $39-42 a gallon.  I used a 4" brush.  I was only able to do about 24 boards at one time(12-14') because that is all the horses I had. 

With the quick re-coat time I would highly suggest the minimum of 2 coats.  It will give you a much better finish.

[MountainDon]

We used the same clear coat product (Minwax) that redoverfarm (John) used. Also in Satin. We sanded the T&G (spruce in our case) before application. Two coats, no sanding required between coats in our case. Three inch brush. Minwax recommends three coats, but for a ceiling I think the two is fine. On walls I'd go three where they might be rubbed or bumped.

It's a crystal clear finish, no tinting, no yellowing over time. Milky white in the can; dries clear. Water clean up.

Because we had no stain involved, just the clear coat, we opted to install it and then apply the finish.

[rwanders]

Minwax poly it is!  And no stain either---I was hesitant to try and stain pine after reading several warnings about the tendency of pine to turn blotchy. My ceiling is steep (12/12) and is 25' off the main floor in the open areas so any "aw shits" will be immediately apparent. Thanks for your generous advice!

[MountainDon]

Using a pre stain conditioner prevents splotching that occurs with some woods. Extra step and cost though.   

[Erin]

Along these lines, someone tell me why you wouldn't want to pre-seal it, before installation... 

[glenn kangiser]

That is best according to comments various places in the forum, Erin - back also to prevent warping and cupping.

[MountainDon]

Along these lines, someone tell me why you wouldn't want to pre-seal it, before installation... 

My thoughts on that are... ONLY IF there is no stain/color involved, could this work.  With just a clear coat applied after installation any slight shrinkage won't be noticed.

Applying finish before installation is sometimes a pain because of a lack or work space. If going that route it IS best to coat both sides as this will reduce warping that may be caused by the drying on one side only.

We went with installing the 1x6 T&G first because we were going to ue a clear, non-yellowing finish. Nailed in place there was no warping as/after the finish was applied.