General Finishes Corporation

Name: General Finishes Corporation
Address: 2462 Corporate Circle, East Troy, WI, 53120, United States
Telephone: +1 414-426-0194
Rating: 4.1

10 Reviews

Paint and Wall Covering Professionals

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About Us

General Finishes' offers furniture paint, stains, glazes and topcoats that have appealed to the DIY and professional finishing market. General Finishes is a smaller company that has been in business since 1928, and is now the American leader in both professional and water base finishes. GF's award winning water based topcoats, water based wood stains, glazes and oil based finishes are consumer friendly, designed for easy use with more pigment and depth of color than any other finishes on the market. General Finishes is also the innovator of Pro Floor System. Our Pro Floor System is comprised of revolutionary water based floor stains and top coats that allow you to stain and seal in one day. It offers brilliant colors, excellent UV stability using new automotive pigmentation, VOC compliance throughout USA, no solvent odor and no combustion concerns. Ready to refinish your kitchen cabinets? Sign-up for our FREE online course for expert guidance and insider tips every step along the way: gf.video/CabinetRefreshCourse-SM21

Services Provided

Paint and Stain Manufacturer

Areas Served

United States & UK

Awards

Winner of Fine Woodworking's Best Overall Choice Award, High Performance Topcoat was voted as the hardest, most durable consumer polyurethane topcoat.

26 Projects

Red Oak Floor Refinish

Stair Project with General Finishes Pro Floor Stain System

Sports Floor

White Kitchen Cabinet Transformation

General Finishes Bathroom Transformation

Inspiration for a dining room in Milwaukee.

Before and after

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Business Details

Business Name

General Finishes Corporation

Phone Number

+1 414-426-0194

Website

www.generalfinishes.com

Address

2462 Corporate Circle
East Troy, WI 53120

Followers

508 Followers

Socials

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Credentials

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10 Reviews for General Finishes Corporation

Newest first

soho62

Long time woodworker and cabinetmaker here. GF has ZERO product support beyond the generic info on their website. Additionally there is no, none, zip, nada way to call or email a question to them on a unique technical issue from professionals who need to rely on such info. I've used GF alot in the past but am transitioning to other more professionally focused finish manufacturers products. It is apparent that they are now geared to the homeowner/novice consumer and away from the professionals.

4 February, 2023

HU-99412647

I have never encountered a U.S. company with a premium product so lacking in customer service. They make it impossible to contact them by telephone or e-mail. I have been using the General Finishes oil-based "Light Oak" wood stain. It is apparently unavailable and I can't find out from my dealer (Woodcrafters) or General Finishes whether there has been a simple name change to the product or if there is a close substitution.

14 June, 2021

Sheaves Floors LLC

We currently use General Finishes Pro Floor Stain & Finishes on our sanding & refinishing jobs throughout Virginia for Sheaves Floors LLC. It has been the most user friendly products we have worked with. Always excellent results and our customers are always very pleased with the final results. The color options for the stains are unlimited. The Pro Floor finishes are great products for top coating, they flow well and the durability is great. General Finishes Pro Floor system is our exclusive brand for all of our water-based finishes.

5 April, 2017

Healey Custom Cabinetry LLC

We use General Finishes' products exclusively on all of our projects. They have the highest quality finishes that are both durable and environmentally friendly. They are continually developing new products that are easy to use and we are always pleased with the final result.

31 August, 2016

Edgewater Woodwork

General Finishes stains and top coat/ polyurethanes are my go to finish. I use the gel stains on my pieces often layered combining different colors, really good saturated pigments. The layering system of starting with a first coat of aniline dyes followed up with gel stain to bring out the figuring in woods like quarter sawn oak is amazing (see master finisher Jeff Jewitt's blog for info on this). The Arm R Seal wipe on satin poly is a very soft, barely noticeable gloss that brings out the color on Craftsman style pieces without overpowering the beauty of the wood with too much shine. I've left glasses of ice water on overnight as a test with no damage. Really top line products.

4 May, 2016

drglynn

My husband and I are homeowners, not professionals. Over the past forty years we have refinished a lot of furniture and wood floors and have the battle scars to prove it. Being in our sixties and seventies, respectively, we dreaded refinishing our old quarter sawn oak dining room table. My husband kept kept coming across rave reviews for General Finishes' products in various woodworking magazines and decided to give them a try. These products are an answer to a prayer. Fast drying? Absolutely. Each coat was totally dry (not tacky) within fifteen minutes. Odorless so we could work inside as we were not up to carrying that monster anywhere. And water based to boot for easy cleanup. Hello momma I'm home. We couldn't be more pleased with the results. We can't stop caressing the tabletop, and are now eyeing everything else in the house that needs a new finish. Pray for us.

15 April, 2016

batfurniture

I bought the Java Gel Stain from General Finishes and I was somewhat worried how to apply the product since it was a new type of stain I was unfamiliar with. However, the instructions on the can were very helpful and I followed them carefully. I'd suggest to users to mix Java Gel Stain a lot before use and to not worry too much about the look of the stain right out of the can, the color looks beautiful on the wood once applied. I also used an old rag to smooth out the finish even though I read that Java Gel Stain should be self flattening. Take your time and follow the steps on the can and you should be set. I also used the recommended General Finishes High Performance Topcoat in Satin on top of the Gel Stain after it dried. I love the final look I got with the Gel Stain on my bookshelf and I am excited to try more of General Finishes products, they have many other colors of gel stains and I probably would try Nutmeg Gel Stain next.

6 October, 2014

erubach103

I recently used General Finishes Georgian Cherry Gel Stain to refinish my kitchen cabinets. I could not be more pleased with how they turned out! I watched their YouTube videos before starting to get some tips, and felt very confident that I tackle this project.t The Gel Stain was easy to use and allowed me to completely transform my kitchen cabinets without spending a fortune. I can't wait to try more General Finishes products on future projects!

2 October, 2014

jamesmarie14

General Finishes has expert knowledge of wood finishing and readily shares it with the users of their products. Their products work better than anything I've tried on the market.

23 September, 2014

atjones

General Finishes makes great, high quality products! I recently completed a few projects, including a bench, kitchen table, and cabinet using various products. The water-based Milk Paint goes on smoothly and dries without paint lines. It has a great opacity, so it doesn't take very many coats to get good coverage. I've also tried the Gel Stain, which comes in a lot of colors, and it worked like a charm. It doesn't have a strong odor, and it wipes on very easily with little prep work. The colors are vibrant and really compliment the wood tones. I finished all my pieces with High Performance Polyurethane Topcoat, which is also water-based. It dried quickly and left a nice hard coating. I would love to try the water-based wood stains and dye stains as well!

21 May, 2014

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44 Ideabooks

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18 Comments

Commented: Is this brown mahogany by general finishes? And is it a gel finish?Yes, it's General Finishes Brown Mahogany Gel Stain. If you click on this link, you can read the full blog post about this project.

15 August, 2019

Commented: please add color and product-how can i buy if i don't knowThese images have since been deleted from our profile so we're unable to give you color info. Please visit the General Finishes Design Center at designs.generalfinishes.com - hundreds of Gel Stained ...

13 January, 2017

Commented: I Hate my Powder RoomHi Allison, Have you thought about painting your vanity cabinets? General Finishes has some pretty great color choices that will definitely pop! Here is a link to our design center so you can see some...

5 May, 2016 in Design Dilemma

Commented: Kitchen cabinets in a log homeFantastic! Let us know how things turn out and send us some photos if you have a chance. Happy painting!

29 April, 2016 in Design Dilemma

Commented: How to make wood patio chairs look good againHi jthometz, Have you thought about trying General Finishes Gel Stain? Here is a link to our design center page, specifically our Gel Stain page. There are so many color possibilities! http://designs....

24 April, 2016 in Design Dilemma

Commented: need help for my table projectYour table turned out awesome! We hope to see more projects from you in the future! -General Finishes

24 April, 2016 in Design Dilemma

General Finishes Corporation