Fixing a badly finished item.

BearTricks · 23 Aug 2015

I found a mid century style sideboard/set of drawers in my local charity shop for pennies. It looks as if someone with no clue what they're doing has re-stained it carelessly and they'd also fitted an awful misshapen top to it and painted that with some extremely cheap acrylic paint that mostly peeled off when I put it in the boot.

The top has gone in the bin and will be replaced by some beech that I have lying round. The body of the thing (it was actually just labelled "thing" in the shop because it looked so ridiculous) is a combination of beech and furniture grade beech ply. If I had to guess I would say the stain is a B&Q or Wickes own brand shade that is approximating teak.

I've not restored anything before so I don't know how aggressive I can be when sanding the plywood. Can I just go at it with the power sander or will that stain be too deep? I'd just like to do a cleaner job of staining it with a nicer colour. Either that or maybe even just oil the thing.

What would be my best bet for refinishing it?

RogerP · 23 Aug 2015

Of course with plywood and aggressive sanding is it's all too easy to go through the first ply - then you do have a problem.

Without seeing it and also not being sure what use you intend putting it to it's a bit difficult to offer worthwhile advise. Have you considered giving it a light sanding and then painting it? You could still have a wood finish on your replacement top and the mixture of painted and oiled/varnished wood can look very attractive.

BearTricks · 23 Aug 2015

It's going to be the new TV stand. I'll try to post some photos tomorrow. I'm tempted to try gently sanding a hidden area to see how readily the stain comes off. Is it possible or common for wood stain to penetrate deeper than the first ply?

CHJ · 23 Aug 2015

RogerP":1nuknh1k said:
...........Have you considered giving it a light sanding and then painting it? You could still have a wood finish on your replacement top and the mixture of painted and oiled/varnished wood can look very attractive.

+1 for the above, any attempts to remove and change the stain are odds on likely to prove disappointing.
As long as the surface is sound and provides a good bond for paint it would I think have a better prospect of a satisfactory finish.