Question about really cheap piece of furniture....

18 years ago

Hi everyone,

I can't believe how much work I have to do, because someone at the factory didn't do their quality control job very well. We're going to remodel our kitchen someday in the future. I have no storage now, so I have bought several single pieces of furniture that would help with our kitchen storage needs. At Menards I found a 5' tall cabinet, 32" wide, that's oak veneer on wood composite. It has 2 doors. It actually looks pretty good and seems sturdy. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't nearly what I would have had to pay for a nice piece.

This box of parts must have weighed over several hundred pounds. I got it home and opened it up and everything looked good except for the doors, which have 3 panels each. Some idiot piece-mealed the veneer together and it looked awful. I called Menards, and they guy said to just bring back the doors........which I did. Their boxes were almost to the ceiling and it required a forklift to get one down. They opened it up and the door was made well, but now that I've gotten it home, it's much lighter than the rest of the cabinet! What a drag.

I just can't keep doing this back and forth thing with all this heavy stuff. I think if I take this back and get another one, I could run into some other problem. Is there any way to darken the doors, even if they have polyurethane on it? Thanks for listening to me whine.

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Comments (6)

baymee
18 years ago
Possibly with a pigminted stain, carefully applied with a rag and not wiped off and then re-poly.
User
18 years ago
You can try gel stain. That stuff is almost like paint. You will need to lightly hand sand the surfaces you wish to color----and be aware changing/matching stain colors is a frustrating proposition.
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catherinet
Original Author
18 years ago
THanks Baymee and handymac,
I can't believe how much trouble this has caused me......because someone was asleep on the job. I think I'll take it all back and try another one. Thanks again.
marcspag
18 years ago
Catherinet,

I am glad to hear you say you are taking the cabinet back. Doing that much work for a relatively cheap cabinet just doesnt seem worth the effort. You could potentially run into a number of issues. The finish on the cabinet might not be a polyurethane. If could be a lacquer or some other cheap industrial finish that wont be compatible with your new finish. In general, once you have some sort of top coat on a piece, the best way to change the color is with a toner. A toner is basically dye suspended in a compatible finish or other chemical. I could go into that process further, but honestly I think taking the cabinet back (in spite of the back pain) is your best bet. Good luck.

Marc
catherinet
Original Author
18 years ago
THanks Marc,
I think you're right. I think it would just end up a bigger mess, and then I wouldn't even be able to return it. Thanks for your input.
catherinet
Original Author
18 years ago
Well, I took the whole thing back today. It only took hubby and I about an hour to get it back in the box......
I had them open up another box, and sure enough those doors were too light too! So I threw in the towel and came home empty handed. I can't believe how much time and gasoline I've spent this week on that stupid cabinet!!
Now I'm free!! :)
For a "cheap" ($274 on sale) piece of furniture, it wasn't constructed too badly. But you'd think they could at least get the stain on their doors to match the cabinets. Maybe most people don't even notice?? Wish I was one of them!

Question about really cheap piece of furniture....

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