Refinish table top or find new 'old' one?

12 years ago

I guess I just need someone to help me think through this, and/or make suggestions. Our kitchen table is something we created with a purchased table top (top only) and an old black iron sewing machine base. The majority of wood furniture in my house is vintage/antique in medium to dark tones, and this table top has never quite fit in because it's a new maple wood in a lighter finish. Now that DS has put a few gouges in the top of the table, I have an excuse to do something with it. I figure my options are:

- refinish this table top, putting on a darker stain and maybe distressing it a bit to make it look like it has some age. I have never done this, so any suggestions are welcome.

- or find an old table top and use that. Problem is, I have been scouring CL and haven't found anything I can use. I thought I could maybe find an antique table and just use the top, but can't find the right size. Then I thought maybe I could find a place that makes furniture from reclaimed wood and maybe I could just get a table top from them, but the one place I found was sooo expensive.

The size of my table is not a typical size -- 30" x 60". Because of its location it can't be much wider than 30" but it could be a bit longer. Ideally it would be around 66" long.

Comments (15)

homestylelisa
12 years ago
I am in the middle of refinishing a cherry heirloom dining table with 3 leaves!! It is a lot of work, but I am enjoying every second of it.

I have never refinished anything before, and if you haven't either, be up for a bit of a challenge if you are going to totally strip it and start over.

I think it would be so fun to distress a table - I saw a TV show once where they distressed a floor before finishing it and they used chains and just beat the fluff out of it before applying stain/varnish. Looked fun! I love rustic, well worn things, so that type of thing is right up my alley. Then if someone does make a dent, you don't have to worry so much - it blends in! :)

Good luck - just my .02.
allison0704
12 years ago
We brought our old (purchased at Storehouse in 1990+/-) farmhouse table and chairs to this house. I loved the base and chairs (had them repainted/glazed years ago) but the maple top was too new and light for this house.

I had two guys that made some other things for me make a new "old" top. It's suppose to look like an old workbench top, even has a few rings here and there. They did a great job distressing. Everyone thinks it is old.

Close up:

before:

(I miss Boomer. :( )

After:

I really need to take some new pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: house
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allison0704
12 years ago
..Sorry that last one is so big.

Forgot to say - DH and I distressed every single piece of trim molding in our house before it was installed. I did the doors after they were installed.

I used a hammer (both ends). Tried a chain - heavy, hard, comes back to bite you. I also had the trim carpenter shoot a bunch of finishing nails (tiny) through a paddle (they made several for me) and went around beating holes in everything. A couple of them thought I was crazy, but the distressed doors are what a lot of people ask about ("Where can I buy?")

It's not hard to do, but time consuming. A table top wouldn't take that long. They guys also used some kind of scraper on the table. There are gouges here and there.
Sueb20
Original Author
12 years ago
OOh, Allison, my table top looks almost identical to your "before" pic so you have given me hope!

So I could sand it, bang it up with tools, chains, etc. (sounds like a good way to work out some frustrations) and then stain -- then what sort of finish over the stain? I don't want it to be shiny but I assume I should put some kind of finish over the stain. I might be the only middle aged (ish) adult who has never stained a piece of furniture.
lindac
12 years ago
It's really no trick at all to refinish a table top...I have refinished more stuff than I care to remember, and a table top is lots easier than any chair!
But the trick is that maple is such a dense wood it doesn't take a stain well. And frankly I hate artificially distressed wood.
I would strip the finish on the table top then paint it with a thin coat of a color...perhaps that institutional green so much old stuff was painted....water the paint well and use oil based paint. When that's dry paint it a "wood brown"....the color you want it to look most like. When that coat is dry....hit it with steel wool....just 2 ought and start rubbing unevenly.....the goal being to make it look like a much painted table top that has worn down in spots showing the raw wood and some places the different coats of paint.
When it's to your liking, top with a coat of poly, rub gently with 4 ought steel wool and top with another coat of poly.....or if you want it to continue to "erode" omit the poly....and let the paint continue to wear.
linda C
busybee3
12 years ago
i don't know anything about 'artificially' distressing furniture (tho we naturally distress things quite well! lol), but the pic that allison shows seems like they may have even burned areas slightly, which adds an interesting touch--nice color variation!
tinam61
12 years ago
Sue, you can also use paste wax which will waterproof.

tina
allison0704
12 years ago
OOh, Allison, my table top looks almost identical to your "before" pic so you have given me hope!

Thanks. Now, they made me a NEW "old" table. They did NOT use the maple top. Maple does not take stain very well and wouldn't get as dark as I wanted.

busybee3, the places in the close up that look like "burn marks" are the gouges. They stained darker than the top of the wood.

I don't remember what they used to seal, but it made a stink for a few days after. It was not a shiny finish - matte. I never use shiny. Our hardwood floors were finished with tung oil because I wanted no shine whatsoever.

My island (antique pine) was finished with Good Stuff For Wood. Not sure why they didn't use it on the table too.

I will take a better picture of the top, but I'm running late so I cant do it now.
cindyloo123
12 years ago
sueb20, I've refinished all types of wood. The only kind I ever had a problem with was maple. It was impossible to get any stain to adhere. I wouldn't ever try it again!
User
12 years ago
I did my own and ended up sanding and refinishing it 3 times to get it right.

I too have had my table since the 90's and not knowing what kind of wood it was for sure (I think it's just rubberwood), I was pretty nervous about adding chemicals to strip it. So instead I just sanded and sanded and sanded some more until I was sure it was bare wood. Then I used Minwax Walnut for the stain. The hard part isn't staining it, it's varnishing it afterwards. The quick dry varnish from Minwax dries too fast and has tendencies to cloud. And I really disliked the stain colors from General Finishes but their varnish is wonderful. So on my last attempt I used Minwax walnut stain and General Finishes varnish in the mat finish.

Before

After
Sueb20
Original Author
12 years ago
luk, your table looks great. I'm wishing my table wasn't maple since I'm now scared off from trying to refinish it. Although, if I am going to replace it anyway, maybe I'll just give it a shot. Maybe I should paint it instead of trying to stain it. Sort of like Lindac suggested but not sure if I would attempt to make it look like "wood" -- if I'm going to paint, I might as well do a color. Hm. No idea what color. Lots of reds and greens in the room with a bit of gold here and there. Maybe a warm gold color... but then I have 2 chairs (the rest of the seating is at a window seat) that are also maple so I'd need to do something with them... Obviously I'm thinking out loud now. My concern is that I'm going too country-primitive with painted furniture.
User
12 years ago
Thanks, I love painted tables but always worry about chipping and how it will wear. If you're leery of using stain but really want a wood look, why not go the gel stain route. I don't know a lot about them, but from what I understand, they are more like a paint than a stain but in wood tones. Lots of people here have used gel stain on their cabinets with beautiful results. I just bought a can in a cherry finish to try on a spare cabinet we have. If it works out, I may just use it on our kitchen cabinets.
dalmadarling
12 years ago
A few "how-to" tips since I'm considering doing something similar to my own little dining table.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wood/msg0209475214819.html

http://www.sweetiepiepumpkinnoodle.com/2011/07/dining-table-before-after-how-to.html
RRM1
12 years ago
Listen to Linda and Allison, maple is very difficult to stain to a dark color. So, be prepared to either be open to whatever you get or look for another wood. If you can find a lumber yard that carries reclaimed and salvaged wood, find some boards you like and find a cabinet maker to "lay up" a table top. You chose the dimensions you want and you supply the lumber. Have him lay it up and cut it to size. Then you take it from there and finish it how you want. It should be a LOT cheaper this way and you can put it on any base you want. Shop the idea around and you'll find someone good and honest to do it.
Sueb20
Original Author
12 years ago
I think I've given up the idea of refinishing the table. I found one online source for black walnut butcher block table tops, which look kind of neat, and Room and Board has table tops in different woods. Not inexpensive, though! I'm going to continue to keep my eyes open and will also check a local lumberyard to see what I can find there. Thanks for ALL the ideas and suggestions.