Help! Have we ruined our woodwork?

15 years ago

I am just SICK, and I'm hoping someone here might have some advice for us. My husband and I have been stripping miles of wallpaper in our 1910 home for the last week. We had only our small entry vestibule left to do tonight, and I'm afraid we have screwed up big-time. My husband turned the steaming machine on inside the vestibule and left it to heat up (which takes 15-20 minutes), and when he went back to start stripping the wallpaper, he discovered that all the oak woodwork is covered in a grey haze. He tried washing, scrubbing and scratching it off, but it isn't budging. I will just die if we have to strip all that woodwork. We're talking about two oak doors, wood panels, and all the trim around the leaded glass transoms and sidelights (two sets).

Please tell me there is a way to salvage this! I'm fairly certain the woodwork is covered in shellac. I don't think it's a modern polyurethane or anything. Here's the area I'm talking about:

From Last Import

Help?

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Comments (16)

PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
15 years ago
Is it still there?
bulldinkie
15 years ago
maybe try the tip for fixing water spots on woodI heard it often but do you think I can remember it now. ,maybe let dry,You may have to go over all with something so it all blends in,,,
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I think that these idiots are just plain not capable of fixing anything to your satisfation. Though they should fix it, and they should be responsible for it, I have my doubts. No matter how much you squeeze, you can't get blood from a stone, and you can't get good work out of people who don't know how to do it. You might be able to get money out of them, and if so, the easiest way to fix it is to have a good lumberyard or finish carpentry contractor/shop rout you new molding to perfectly match the profile of the old. The wood would be new (unless you had old wood to give them, or they could locate some, which is possible), but you could experiment (on scraps of the same wood) with stains and finishes to get it to look close to the original. If you're fixing it yourself, then you should look carefully to see if you can find pieces in lumberyards to put together to match your old woodwork. I've lived in places from the late 19'th C. to the mid-20th C., and in each place, the moldings were either built from pieces that are still around, or simpler 1-piece moldings are literally still for sale in the more upscale local lumberyards. A good lumberyard should be able to get you the pieces in pine, maple, red oak, or occasionally cherry. This is something that most homeowners don't know about, but can save you tons of money when restoring your old woodwork. To fix your old wood without replacing it, you can fill the problem areas with putty and dab stain & finish (probably shellac?) on top with a paint brush and sand it flush with very fine-grained (220 or higher number) sandpaper (draw in the grain lines with a pencil). I've also seen colored hard wax burn-in sticks that you melt with a soldering iron, mix to the right shade, then fill holes and dents with. I think you can buy it from Van Dykes Restorer's catalog. I saw a guy do it once and I couldn't see the repairs, honest. Or you could cut some patches out of wood (especially if you have some old wood around that might match well), cut out really bad sections of your damaged molding, and glue the new wood in place. The patch would show, but you can sand it down flush with the old molding, and it could look OK anyway. Good luck!
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missouri1
15 years ago
I'd give it time to dry and and chances are it will be fine.
calliope
15 years ago
It's the same haze you will find on old furniture (sort of like a water spot from a wet glass). The finish on antique furniture is different than the finishes we put on modern woods. I would suspect the corrective action would be similar and may be very simple.

If it were me, I'd find a not-so-noticeable area and read up on restoring antiques and try the least invasive technique for fixing water spots to see if it helps.

I had an old Victorian with all natural woodwork, and loads of it in expensive wood, including wainscotting. I remember scrubbing it with Murphy's oil soap and steel wool. It started out a gummy mess when the finish absorbed the moisture, but the steel wool took the gum off, and left a beautiful finish which I lightly buffed with a good furniture polish. Don't panic. I don't think you'll end up having to strip it. Good luck and do a little research.
calliope
15 years ago
I agree with Missouri1. Give it a chance to dry out well first, to see if that corrects it. I've washed down antique furniture with murphy's and water and had a light haze and it eventually dried out and cleared when it did.
sombreuil_mongrel
15 years ago
Wax applied with ultra-fine steel wool usually removes haze. Butchers or Briwax is recommended. (briwax is trickier to work with because it contains the powerful solvent toluene).
Use a woolen cloth to buff.
Casey
worldmom
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you so much for all the great suggestions and reassurances. I'm happy to report that the wood looks almost normal today, with the exception of a few streaky places where the condensation ran down the wood in little rivulets. We will try using the above suggestions, but I'm hugely relieved to know it's not going to need to be a total stripping job.

Ironically, while we were standing in the vestibule and inspecting the wood, water started dripping on our heads. DH ran upstairs and discovered the girls' bathroom radiator was leaking. Sigh... The joys of old home ownership! I still wouldn't choose a new cookie cutter home over my gorgeous leaky/streaky one. ;o)
brickeyee
15 years ago
It sounds like it might be a shellac finish.

Cover it with mayonnaise and let it sit over night, then wipe with a soft cloth.

It usually pulls the water out of shellac without any damage.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
15 years ago
The joys of old home ownership!

It is a never ending battle but worth the fight.
concretenprimroses
15 years ago
What a gorgeous entryway!
Good luck,
kathy
kec01
15 years ago
If your finish is shellac and it does need touch-up, just apply new shellac. The new melds right into the old and the finish will be good as "new".
brickeyee
15 years ago
"If your finish is shellac and it does need touch-up, just apply new shellac. The new melds right into the old and the finish will be good as "new"."

Depends on how much water is in the finish.

If you apply new shellac while there is water present it can blush also.

At the very least you need to allow it to thoroughly dry before trying to top coat with new shellac.
slateberry
15 years ago
brickeyee, I LOVE the mayo tip! I gotta try that on my trouble spot...makes a lot of sense.
worldmom
Original Author
15 years ago
mayonnaise? Seriously? I'll give it a shot! :o)
kec01
15 years ago
As the OP mentioned that the whiteness has pretty much cleared up, my mention of just applying more shellac assumed that the finish was dry. Shellac is about the most forgiving finish out there.
autumngal
15 years ago
Hope it's perfect now worldmom- love the entryway, it's beautiful!

Help! Have we ruined our woodwork?

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Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting

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Help! Have we ruined our woodwork?

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