Refinishing old furniture with fake wood trim?
Fori
14 years ago
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irislover7b
14 years agolindac
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Refinishing wood trim...what am I doing here exactly..
Comments (13)I'm new to this thread but feel like this crowd might have the answers I'm looking for. I've got a 1918 Craftsman in Oakland, CA with virgin gumwood throughout the living and dining areas. I've spent the last 2 years stripping it (I've got little kids and a full time job). I was able to use denatured alcohol in only a couple of places, got fed up with CitrusStrip and settled on 3M safestrip but needed to strip each area twice to really get it clean. I'm just beginning to sand and realize I want to completely finish the window casings before we hit (hopefully) a rainy season. I've searched all over the web and keep finding partial comments on varnish, shellac, and poly. I'm very comfortable with poly from past smaller projects (mostly furniture). I like the idea of staying true to the original install and going with shellac except that I absolutely need better moisture protection than it will offer. Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't use poly? Can anyone point me to soup to nuts instructions on how to go from raw wood to finished product? Do I need to use anything like a primer? Help! I'm ready to roll but just have so little confidence in creating a plan....See MoreCleaning old wood furniture
Comments (13)I have lots of antique mahogany furniture - I posted this process several years ago on HGTV Decorating forum and lots of people have tried it and had wonderful results - there was a recent thread with pictures. 1. Wash piece with Murphy's Oil Soap, thoroughly dry 2. Use finest grit steel wool and rub in the direction of the grain of the wood - you will be removing old wax not the finish. Go over every inch of the wood with fine steel wool until you feel you have gotten the old dirty wax off. 3. Wash again with Murphy's Oil Soap & let dry. 4. This is the most amazing of the steps - Use Howard's Restor-a-Finish in Mahogany stain on your piece - it will transform the wood. Follow directions on the can. It will fill in water stains and other imperfections - the patina of the old wood will be intact, and your piece will just glow. 5. Use Howards Feed N' Wax as a final step following directions on the bottle. I guarantee you will be amazed by who well this regimen works. Make sure you don't wax your furniture more than a couple times a year - otherwise, you end up building up wax and dirt. Just dust and buff lightly with a soft, dry cloth. Here is a picture of a really horrible old chest I bought years ago - the wood was completely dead and dull looking - it was filthy and my husband could not understand why I bought it....after following the process listed above, here is how it turned out. Good luck!...See MoreRefreshing the finish on old wooden furniture
Comments (20)Restore-A-Finish is a SOLVENT! Use it if you want to dissolve old finish off, or have a piece with massive accumulations of alligatored varnish finish. Start with the gentle cleaners and work your way up: 1 - mild soap and water to remove water-soluble dirt 2 - mineral spirits to remove oil-based dirt such as hand grunge Apply with a cloth or a kitchen scrubby pad (those green kitchen scrub pads work well) and wipe off with clean cloths. Then stop and evaluate it ... maybe all it needs is a good furniture paste wax and buffing. Here's what Restore-a-finish can do (although this is my cheap DIY blend of 50/50 lacquer thinner and alcohol) for a really horrible finish. This was decades of time-darkened varnish, wax build-up and lord knows what else. I applied it liberally to one small area at a time, let it sit a minute or two, scrubbed it gently with coarse steel wool, and wiped off the black grunge. My next step will be to clean each piece again with fine steel wool. Then a new finish, probably real shellac or other period-authentic finish....See MoreRefinish old solid wood doors or install new hollow doors
Comments (6)The good thing about existing doors is that they are hung and fitted to your openings. If you look up how to install new doors, it's no picnic. With the existing doors, all you really need here is a bit of sanding, or you could paint them as is if you want to stay with the rustic look. A satin or semi-gloss paint would make a feature of the uneven surface if you left it that way. You'd want to sand a bit after the first coat, I think, but just to smooth down the loose fibres. Are you doing any work at all yourselves? If so, then I would suggest it might be worth your time to learn the skills and acquire the tools needed to do this job - it wouldn't be rocket science. You'd need a sander (by hand would be possible too), some dust masks, and maybe some sawhorses for setting up the workspace outside. The wood is actually quite beautiful, and the tone quite warm and pleasant, not dark in a bad way. But in certain types of rooms I can see you'd want them lighter. KarinL...See Morecalliope
14 years agoFori
14 years agomaryland_irisman
14 years agoneill68
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14 years agolindac
14 years agomoonshadow
14 years agoFori
14 years agoFori
14 years agolindac
14 years ago
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