Questions about furniture refinishing

Parent Cafe
1

I have my mom’s dining room table, which I am remembering is made of pecan wood. When I inherited it from her, she told me that she’d had it refinished one time, and whoever did it, did not do a very good job - when you look closely at it, you can see some very small, sort of blistery-type markings where it seems as if something wasn’t done correctly. So I’ve always had in mind to get it refinished. Then we’ve had a couple of people set hot things down on it, without any padding underneath, so it marred the finish, too. I’m finally getting around to finding someone to do this for me.

I got the name of a woman who works out of her home in our local area; we’ve been exchanging messages, and she’s going to come by Saturday morning to look at the table. I sent her dimensions (64" x 42 1/2") and pictures of the table (it also has two leaves). She sent me back a quote of (hold onto your hats) $180! So red flags are flying all over the place here. I need to learn as much as possible by Saturday morning so I know what the right questions to ask are. I guess it is possible that, if she’s a mom, working out of her home to do this, and doesn’t have any overhead costs of a store, she could be this cheap, but I want to make sure she’s not going to take any shortcuts. I have seen one before-and-after picture of another piece she’s done, and she has done dining room tables before. In fact, before she comes here Saturday, she has another stop at someone else’s house to look at their dining room table.

Several years ago when I looked into this and decided I wasn’t going to do it, someone suggested I take it to a place that can dip the furniture, since it’s such a big piece. I was thinking this was going to be a $600-800 job, so you can imagine why I’m so skeptical.

What kinds of questions do I need to ask her to know that she’s doing a professional job?

2

It would be better if she did not dip the furniture. You need to ask her how she removes the old finish. That is the key. And then find out what she plans to put down in its place.

Can you ask if you can see that other person’s DR table…and talk to them?

3

I’ve only had a couple pieces refinished, but I thought dipping was a shortcut to avoid because it destroys the joints of the furniture. If it were my table, I’d want someone to hand strip it.

4

You could call another refinisher (of good repute) to get a price and ask what process they use. That way you will have something to compare to.

I had a dining room table refinished about 16 years ago and it was 500 dollars. Done by hand, no pipping. The finish is still in good shape.

5

If the table just has a varnish and/or stain finish and no paint, it’s not a terrible job. Is there any carving on the table or legs? If so, ask how she will clean those areas. The job would probably be stripping the old varnish off (ask what she uses just so you know), a light sanding depending on the imperfections and then probably the most important part, the finishing. Is she going to leave it the natural color? Does she suggest a stain? What type of finish (varnish)?? How many coats??? She should be doing a very fine sanding between coats. Do you want a satin or glossy finish - show her something else in your house that is similar to the type of finish you would like.

6

I redid my own 100 year old table about 10 years ago. No stain. Natural look with satin finish. But it was oak. Not sure how hard pecan would be.

7

We talked about finish. I want the finish to match as closely to the chairs I have as possible. I bought the chairs after I had the table (did not want my mom’s chairs) and matched them as closely as I could to the finish on the table. I’m pretty sure this will need to take a stain to match the chairs.

@EPTR - what is pipping? (oh, wait, were you typing dipping, and made a typo?) I wondered if pipping was a process that I wasn’t familiar with!

So what other processes would there be, other than dipping, and hand stripping? As far as how many coats of stain, isn’t that dependent on what it looks like when it dries in comparison to what color you’re trying to achieve?

The table doesn’t have a lot of intricate work or carvings on it; the legs have a little bit of a curve to them, and the edge of the table coming down the side (about 3") is slightly curved. We’ve done smaller pieces before, just not anything this big.

If I’m asking what she uses to strip the old varnish off with, what would be preferable for her answer to be?

8

I have a related problem–a Halloween pumpkin left sitting too long on the dining room table, on the wood. The pumpkin looked fine, but it marred the finish. It’s a relatively small spot. Could anyone suggest a way that I could refinish or semi-fix the spot myself? Is that possible without refinishing the entire thing? The table is about 7 feet long and 4 feet wide, and the spot is about 3-4 inches. Not to hijack the thread, but it seems somewhat related to the question as to what teriwtt’s refinisher should do.

9

For Teriwtt- it seems very inexpensive to me. Does she have anything in her home that she did that you could see??

For QuantMech - buy a runner, and put a vase or candlesticks or some other items on top. Voila. I wouldn’t try to fix a small spot myself. Wait until you really need it and have it redone professionally.

We covered our wood tables with glass. It was relatively expensive, but they are easy to clean that way, and the wood stays nice. Perhaps it is gauche…?

10

Thanks, anothermom2. In practice that is what we are doing–keeping the table covered with tablecloths. But it would be nice to see the wood again! The glass cover is a good idea. I don’t think it’s gauche at all.

11

Teriwtt…she said she was checking another DR table. Ask her for the name of that person, and look at their table. See if the work is satisfactory. Get other references from her too. You want to talk to folks who have used her.

Is your table solid wood or veneer…the top?

In my opinion, hand stripping is far better. We have only had furniture dipped that was painted…because it’s very hard to get paint out of the “seams” of wood furniture.

Has she seen your table? Or is this quote an over the phone thing?

12

Usually only one application of stain would be needed - it’s the varnish that you will want additional coats - I’d say probably 3 for a dining table (which will get more abuse than say an end table).

13

@QuantMech – I have NO idea if this will work but I will tell you what I did when I spilled nail polish remover on my kitchen table. The discolored area was fairly large as I had knocked the bottle over.

I ironed through a tea towel on a low setting for quite a while, and the ‘stain’ disappeared entirely. I then had to wax the entire table again, but it was time to do that anyway.

I don’t know if this approach would have worked on my DR table b/c its surface is polished, as opposed to waxed.

While on this subject, does anyone know if there is a limit to how many times one can wax a table? Will it need to be professionally treated at some time? I never know when it is time to wax it again.

14

@abasket - so I want her to do three coats of varnish and a light sanding in between each coat?

@thumper1 - it’s solid wood, not a veneer.

Good idea about asking for referrals from other dining room tables she’s done. Like I said, I did see one piece that she did - before and after photo, from the customer’s Facebook page. But you really can’t tell how many coats of varnish she put on. That seems to be the primary concern.

My contractor was over this morning putting in a new back up sump pump, and I told him about the deal. He sort of shook his head and said, “Be very, very careful.”

I think when she comes over Saturday, I will ask her a lot of these questions, and ask her to describe the process she uses, and I’ll write it down - then might come back here and ask some of you more questions.

15

If she won’t give you a referral to another satisfied customer…I would not use her. Period.

16

My H and I have refinished a lot of furniture over the years - some to sell - but haven’t done a lot in the past few years - but that is what I know from previously - that the products we used recommended a very light fine sand between varnish coats (makes it nice and smooth) and the heavier used the item, the more coats.

Good idea to ask her and then report back. :slight_smile:

17

I would be very careful with this kind of thing, furniture refinishing is something that is very easy…very easy to do badly, and it can show in the finished product. Stripping generally consists of using chemical strippers and/or sanding to get rid of the old varnish and stain, and if it isn’t done right you will see it in the finished product, irregularities in the surface, discolored spots and the like. Likewise, if they use a chemical stripper, you need to be very careful that the stripping compound is completely cleared away (some products have neutralizers, with others requires cleaning with things like mineral spirits).

It is very tempting for people to use things like belt sanders on the flat sections (like the table top), but that can really damage the word, among other things, can end up burning the wood with the friction of the belts on the wood. If wood has fine detail on it, like raised areas and designs, it is very, very difficult to strip.

The other factor with such a low price is what will she be using in staining and varnishing it? The kind of stains you get at Home Depot and the like are not always that great, it generally is Minwax, which does a decent job but for fine furniture good quality stain is not cheap, nor is good quality varnish.

To the do the work is very time consuming as well, and if you ask and she says something like “oh, I can do it in a week”, I would be especially scared. The stripping the wood and prepping it, fine sanding it with fine grit sandpaper, takes time, and with both stain and varnish, with multiple coats you are supposed to sand or steel wool in between coats, something a lot of places don’t do, they put down a layer, let it semi-dry, then put the next coat down, rather than doing a coat, letting it dry fully, sanding/steel wool, then the next coat.

It also depends on your expectations, if this is a valuable antique you want perfect, or something you simply want to look decent, makes a big difference. I would agree, I would get estimates from shops that do refinishing, and see how far out this bid was.

One big piece of advice, with anyone you deal with, be specific, leave nothing to guesswork. If you want 3 layers of varnish, specify that, if you want a certain color of stain, or a certain type, specify it and make it clear to the shop.It could be the person you talked to was just starting out and trying to make a name for herself, and because she doesn’t have to worry about insurance and a shop and so forth, can do it cheaply, but if this piece is something you really cherish as an heirloom, I would be really skeptical about the person in question doing a good enough job.

18

@quantmech-

Depending how deep the discoloration goes, if there are several layers of varnish on the piece, I would try a very fine grit wet/dry sandpaper (800 at first, maybe 600 if that didn’t seem to be working). On a small portion of the stained area, dip the sandpaper into the water, and gently rub a small area, clean the sandpaper in the water, and rub gently again, and see if it seems to be getting any better. What you are doing is removing a very thin layer (and don’t use heavy pressure, it is a mistake many do). Another option would be using a polishing compound like Jeweler’s rouge, but I would use wet dry and see if that works, it may just do the trick. If it looks like the sanding seems to be making it look better, then you can work across the stain area. If you are able to clean it up, then afterwords I would use a paste furniture polish to seal the finish up.

19

This was YEARS AGO so you know-- My mom had an antique tea cart that she had refinished. The guy had it so long that my parents weren’t sure he even still had it.They would drive by to make sure. Gorgeous when it was returned nearly two years later.
Library bookcases–same story. Took forever. But my parents weren’t in a hurry. thank goodness.

I’ve refinished tables, an antique wash stand as a focus for my guest bathroom, a rocker, a couple chairs. It’s fun and relaxing and I’ve learned a lot so I can understand someone doing this on the side at a cheaper price just to fund their hobby. Doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of doing a good job–just make sure you aren’t the guinea pig sacrificing an heirloom as a practice piece (although a big price is no guarantee either).
Get an example of her work prior signing up so you know what to expect.

The tables I did were pretty easy since they are flat surface. It really depends on original condition and what you want to accomplish. But determine that upfront.
Do you want to change the color? Just bring out the shine and get rid of marks? Remove the dull layer, watermarks etc but keep the patina (does it have a patina? ) Are there scratches you expect to be removed?

Does your piece have layers of varnish on it? Or just stain? Or oiled?

Is it truly solid wood or veneer by chance?
How old is it?
Most older valued pieces (even if just sentimental value) you want to be less aggressive. If the wood is totally stripped (totally sanded) and redone it will lose the “old wood look” (patina). It’ll be nice but will lose the aged look. That can be good or bad depending on the piece. So depending on age and condition you don’t necessarily want the finish totally stripped.

20

It is very tempting for people to use things like belt sanders on the flat sections (like the table top
Please no electric anything.
Is it veneer?