OT cabinet refinishing ?

[superkat]

hey Jeff, i'm home. i'll grab a few pics after i chow this chicken! (btw..there is another product you may want to try first before you do any of this...it's called "Liquid Gold". They sell it at Walmart...$4.86 a can. spray it on, let it soak, wipe down with a cloth...tell me if you don't see a difference right away. (i use this on all my gumwood trim once a month.)

 

[reefman5511]

Now here is a big questing it seems like the poly on the cabinet wore through would make a difference if I left them the same color could I just sand stain and poly then?

If you're leaving them the same color there should be no reason to have to stain - just sand & poly. If the worn through area looks off color (lighter) from wear then sand, stain & poly.

 

[jfl14609]

well i decided to just sand them down a bit and use the poly shades to give them a fresh look and a little more color it looks awesome on the top cabs, but no mater how much I mixed it when i got towards the bottom say 30% the color got really dark and was very hard to apply. so needless to say I think I am going to have to strip the lower doors and completely redo them or is there an easier way to get the colored poly off?

 

[Willistein]

There's really no easy way short of stripping. Just my taste, but I HATE painted cabinets. It might be easier to buy new doors and finish them yourself.

 

[jfl14609]

i have been thinking about that but there are like 20 of them so price is gonna be pretty high. i just hate how the finish is off I am wondering if it went bad since it was stored in my garage for a while

 

[block head]

i'll be honest. i worked as custom furniture builder for years. i've played around with finishing quite a bit. it's not very hard to get ok finish. getting a professional finish is a pita. it's a lot of work,and there is a good chance it turn out less than perfect. if you want a cheap easy fix =paint. staining has a lot to do with prep work and stain choice. some stains are more forgiving. your still looking at over a hour of labor per door. i'd guess it's going to take at least a week to refinish vs a day to paint.

 

[jfl14609]

yeah the top half came out pereft i think that all the color settled to the bottom

 

[superkat]

reading....it came out perfect?

 

[jfl14609]

the cabinets that I did first came out perfect. the upper ones but for some reason I am thinking that whatever bonds the poly to the actual stain went bad. as I got gown the can the last few I did the stain wasnt consistent at all. some areas are dark some arent there was streaking just a terrible finish. and as soon as I noticed it getting darker I really mixed it heavily and that just made it worse

 

[Gravesj1s]

My finishing skills are'nt the best.Some woods are really tricky to work with.

I just wanted to add though,some woods or surfaces are prone to blotching.It sounds similar to what your describing.A wood conditioner might help but I would confirm that from another source.

It has to do with the pores being blocked it could happen by the poly wearing off on the lower cabinets.

 

[jfl14609]

My finishing skills are'nt the best.Some woods are really tricky to work with.

I just wanted to add though,some woods or surfaces are prone to blotching.It sounds similar to what your describing.A wood conditioner might help but I would confirm that from another source.

its really the poly shades i used the same exact can the whole time on all the cabs the top 10 cabinets were perfect then the first two on the base cabs were ok then you just saw it go downhill from there really fast although I noticed it getting darker when I was applying it I didnt notice the streaking and stuff like that. I am debating on going out and buying a new can and sanding the bad ones down really good and starting over I might actually look for something darker that may cover it right up. I am really trying to stay away from stripping as I am playing mr mom for the next few weeks and dont want my 2 year old near that stuff so heavy sanding and starting over is where I am leaning I mean cant get worse than it is now

 

[tent boy]

Where are the pictures? If you dont get those done real soon isn't sprinkler season going to prevent you from finishing?

 

[jfl14609]

i will try and get some later today got a busy day. got two more weeks till back to the grind so I should get them done no issues