I just saw this. I have to tell you, stained cabinets never spoke to me. I'd come across a painted kitchen and "ooOOOoooooo," I'd softly quiver. ("quiver?" OMG. I said "quiver.") Anyway, that was until the day I stripped some vintage, beaded inset cabinets down to bare oak. Holy moly were they pretty. I antiqued them with a gray stain, then 2 different tones of brown to reach an incredible finish. Then, I stripped some of those horrible dark red/black cherry cabinets, again, down to bare wood. So absolutely beautiful. I've actually done the same finish now on 4 antique doors, too. LOVE IT. Now I have such a mix of wood in my kitchen it probably looks stupid, but I call it "eclectic." (No, it's not nice just because I did it. It's just that I can't decide now what to do!) But I don't want to repaint them. My point in all this? I love the pictures this question is provided. Thanks for asking. Also, don't be shy about Citristripping the finish off your cabs and restaining. It's a PIA, but incredibly do-able in place with Citristrip. Messy, but no longer flesh-eating. Just a thought.

I have a fiberglass garage door in white, and while I love the look, the insulating qualities, & light weight (easier on the opener's motor than heavy wood), I wouldn't want it in a faux wood look. When I researched entry doors, it seemed like the big complaint about wood-look fiberglass is that it fades after time and needs to be restained periodically. I wouldn't want to do that for a big garage door. The gel staining wouldn't be too difficult, but applying the UV resistant poly coats would give me pause. A wood door's maintenance would be just as demanding, and wood is heavier (needs more powerful door openers) and is prone to warping (which is why we got rid of our old wood doors). I would think a steel door in a faux wood finish would have the same maintenance issues as fiberglass. It's not so much the door material as the coating on it -- stains & poly don't stand up to heat, sun, rain, & snow well. So just as long as you know what you're getting into. A wood look door may well be worth the effort & expense to you. And maybe your DIY skills are way better than mine! Wood garage doors seem to be the fashion now. Over in Advice, many are asking how to update their homes. The popular answers are 1. Don't paint the brick, it's a maintenance hassle; 2. Replace your garage door with a stained wood door. I question the responses because in my experience, it's the opposite: stained wood garage doors are a maintenance hassle, but painted brick is not if prepped well (is in good condition, sparkling clean and bone dry before painting).

This is a small space = super tough to get a sanding machine in there to get off ALL the old finish. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the gold streaks are areas where the old finish was left on. This would indicate an incomplete sanding event. In a such a small space = not unheard of. It doesn't make it "right" it just gives it a reason for being. There are some areas where the sanding is a bit rough (again...small bathroom = horrible place to sand) which is another indication of sanding concerns. And issues with sanding will cause issues with stain coverage/appearance. To get a sense of the real stain, you may have to give this person a BIGGER space to work with. Tiny bathrooms are horrible areas to "start". Sanding is a BEAR the floors are often contaminated with LOTS OF STUFF and the small square footage really limits the ability to correct for these issues. I would go ahead and ask for a small bedroom to be sanded and stained. That's when you look with a critical eye at his technique. And BTW...the bathroom will need to be done again....but that should be the LAST room s/he attempts - not the first.

Same thing. Plastic. Get em clean with Dawn. Then keep water OFF of them. Cabinets should only be dry dusted. Water is only if you splat spaghetti sauce on them. Water will ruin cabinets if you keep it up. And if you have hard water, get a water treatment system. Mineral deposits would be high on the list of suspects since you say you cleaned off the glop with the Dawn already.