Refinish A Kitchen Table

I had no plans over Labor Day weekend this year, so I decided to refinish my kitchen table.  I did my research and read up on as many sites as I could about it.  My favorite video came from Ron Hazelton’s HouseCall website.

 

Step 1 – Take a picture of your table before you begin

This is just to benefit you so you can compare before and after pictures.  As you can see, in my case I believe I had a similar situation as the person in the video above.  The original finish was too thin and just wore down in spots.

Step 2 – Setup your workspace

Not much to say here.  Just find an area that can be ventilated and has a power outlet nearby if you want to use a power sander.  Also, since this project will probably take a full week, make sure you can have that space for that much time.

Step 3 – Strip your existing finish (varnish, polyurethane, stain, and/or paint)

The most important thing to note here is to get a gel-like stripper for your first pass.  I purchased a thin, watery variety and it did not do a good job at removing the old finish.  I went back and bought the gel stripper and it made stripping a lot easier.

Also, this step may be something you can skip.  If you don’t have any water stains or cup rings and your original stain looks consistent still, you just need to prepare the table for polyurethane.  So, you want to have a smooth surface.  Sand the table lightly with a finishing grit, but don’t do it so much that it removes your stain.  Then move on to Step 5.

This step gets messy so plan on throwing away your scraping tool unless you want to clean it up immediately.  I used a cheap plastic scraping tool and so I just threw it out when I was done.

This is what my table looked like after stripping.  As you can see, there still is stain in the wood, but I was satisfied since the polyurethane was all off so the bare wood was exposed and I could re-stain it.

Step 4 – Sand the table to create a smooth surface to stain

I had some water stains on the table in a spot that had worn through.  I wasn’t sure if I should just stain over it or not.  I decided to try and sand it out.  That worked!  (notice the 5-6 small circles in the bottom-right corner of my table in the first picture and notice that they are missing in the next photo)  I wasn’t too aggressive but I could see the stains go away with each pass I made over it with my orbital sander.

       

I used an old t-shirt to apply the stain with.  You can use a brush/foam-pad, but I found my t-shirt worked pretty well.  I threw it out afterwards.

When you stain, make sure to apply it and wipe it with the grain.  This was tricky with this table since the grain changed direction on every panel.  I definitely wasn’t able to follow the grain perfectly, and the results still looked good.  I’m not exactly sure what it looks like if you mess up.  I’m assuming worst case is, you’ll just have to strip and sand down again and start over.

Wipe off the excess stain before it starts to dry otherwise it will get sticky.  I decided to wipe after each half of my table.  This is tricky because the longer you let the stain sit, the darker the color will become.  So, if you work in pieces like I did, don’t let the stain sit for different lengths of time on each piece.

Step 5 – Apply multiple layers of polyurethane

This is usually the step most websites just skim over.  This process took the longest amount of time.  It took about 10 minutes to sand, 20 minutes to apply the polyurethane, and then 48 hours before I did it again.

You don’t need to sand after staining.  Your surface should be smooth already.  You should use a wet rag to remove any sawdust or other particles from your table before putting the polyurethane.

I applied the polyurethane with the grain again.  I think you want to do this so it will soak into the edges of the wood grains.  Also realize that the urethane will settle so brush strokes that you might see as you apply it will melt into a smooth consistent layer.

If you see a bristle from your brush, pick it out immediately.  I also was applying this in my garage and a couple of mosquitos made their way onto my table.  I picked out the ones I saw, but I think a few may be preserved in my table forever now.

I applied the urethane in thin coats.  This was recommended on the can I was using.  One reason for this is to keep the level of the coat more consistent.  If you apply thick gobs of polyurethane at a time, the likelihood of one section of your table drying with a larger gob of urethane than the next is more likely.  So unless you’re short of time, take your time and apply thinner layers.

In between coats, I used an extra-fine sanding pad (320 grit).  I had 220 grit pads for my orbital sander, and I tried to use it on the leaf, but it took off too much finish when I tried it.  The sanding pad was easy to use and I needed it to work the edges anyways.

I applied 3 coats.  I would’ve had to open a new can of polyurethane if I wanted to do another coat, and I didn’t think it was necessary. 

Step 6 – Return the table to your kitchen and enjoy

That’s all it takes.  My table took a little over a week to finish.  Stripping took 1 day.  Staining another day.  Then I gave my urethane 48 hours in between each sanding and new layer.  That was the recommended time on the can.

 

Finally a list of tools/supplies I ended up using

• Stain that matches your wood color
• Polyurethane (pick up a few stir sticks too; they are usually free)
• Paint brushes (cheap one for stripping and nice natural one for polyurethane)
• Mineral Spirits / Paint Thinner to clean up tools and your hands
• Random Orbital Sander w/ 220 grit pads
• Soft foam sanding pads (grab a few of these since they come in handy for other things too)
• Scraper tool (disposable may be best if this is your first time since it will probably get full of gunk when you’re finished)
• Rubber gloves (keeps your hands from getting stained or full of sticky finish when you strip it off)
• Steel wool (I didn’t use the steel wool too much.  I used a couple pads during stripping and one afterwards, but that was it.  I think I could’ve gotten away without any.  They are fairly inexpensive, and it doesn’t hurt to have a few on hand)