Where to Finish in a Cold Climate?

You’ll probably get lots on advice and opinions on your question so let me offer you mine as well.

Since you’re planning to do the finishing in your basement shop, heat shouldn’t be to much of an issue and your real concern is the flammability of the fumes as the applied finish flashes off and dries. Water based finishes may be your answer since I don’t think any of them produce flammable fumes. They have come a long ways and I’m sure you can find one for most any application.

You might also consider shellac. You would have to be applying a lot of it to reach saturation point in the air and it is a very good interior finish. Sure, it breaks down over many years but it’s only enemy is alcohol or an abundance of moisture.

-- Tom Landon, Lakeland, Fl. When you're through learning, you're through.

kinda tricky, I am in a similar situation- not a whole lot of room, cold temperature, and you dont want to leave the windows open to allow the finish to dry… (and freeze lol)

I do my finished in the garage when I can – not ideal as there is quite a bit of dust movement which will settle on the finish… and if I must – I’ll do it in the basement far enough from the boiler, this environment is warmer than the garage (still colder then the rest of the house) and has less air movement and less dust floating around… not ideal as well, and it does fill the basement will finish-aroma (not my favorite) but better that, than doing it in the living room :-S

what are your other options ? attic? detached garage? something else?

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I do have an unheated detached garage. Not much of an option when it’s -25F :) My dream is to someday have a spray booth :)

I’m in ND, so my temperatures outside are basically the same. My woodshop is in a garage that I heat with wood when I’m out there, but I bring the projects into the basement shop when applying finishes, to get away from the dust and the temps. I use oil base Poly, but I don’t spray unless it’s a really small piece or something that has places that I can’t get a brush in on. In other words, I’ve really gotten good at laying a finish out with a brush. I’ve never really cared for water base Poly for a couple reasons.

When I lived in Maine, my shop had a gas heater, which wasn’t a sealed combustion unit. I use oils 99% of the time, and oil will bead up on the surface, as the ambient temperature increases. So, when I was ready to do some finishing, I would run the heat up in the shop to about 78, shut off the heater, then apply the finish. I didn’t have to worry about the heater coming on and igniting the fumes, and since the shop would cool off over the next few hours, the oil never would bead up on the surface of the piece. I guess you could basically do the same, just after an hour or so, vent the basement of most of the fumes, then turn your heat back on.
My $0.02.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

I finished in my basement alot when I lived in North Dakota before I built my shop out back. I used poly and brushed it on. The fumes to me were not that overly strong. I could see if a person was spraying on a finish it could be more important for ventilation and have a concern of igniting the fumes. Good luck!

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa