| Solid wood furniture often holds a special place in our | | | | 3. Sanding - Once the majority of the previous finish |
| homes and lives because it is so durable and beautiful | | | | has been removed from every square inch of your |
| and can easily be passed down from one generation | | | | piece of furniture you can begin sanding it. Typically |
| to the next. Well built solid wood furniture is harder | | | | you sand with a lower grade grit (lower number, |
| to come by these days and often costs a small | | | | rougher sanding) and move up to higher grades. Yes, |
| fortune when bought new. More and more people | | | | you will sand the same piece multiple times. First you |
| are finding and buying older pieces of furniture and | | | | may go over a piece of furniture with an 80 grit |
| refinishing them to bring them back to their former | | | | piece of paper and then you may go over it again |
| glory. | | | | with a 120 grit sandpaper and then you may go over |
| The process of taking and old piece of wooden | | | | it a third time with a 220 grit sand paper. The "grit" |
| furniture that has been neglected or forgotten and | | | | refers to how many grits of sand are in a square inch |
| restoring it to a beautiful piece of furniture can be | | | | of the paper. The higher the grit the smaller the sand |
| time consuming and frustrating at times, but it can | | | | grits and the smoother the sanding job. You sand a |
| also be incredibly rewarding when you're done. Here | | | | piece of wooden furniture for several reasons. You |
| are the general steps required in refinishing a piece of | | | | are removing any excess finish and you are also |
| wooden furniture: | | | | preparing the wood for the next finish. Be careful |
| 1. Pick a piece of furniture - The first step is | | | | about over sanding! Some stains and finishes actually |
| obviously having a piece of furniture to refinish. If it is | | | | have a hard time adhering to a wood surface that it |
| the first time you have tried such a project it should | | | | too smooth. |
| probably be something relatively simple in design and | | | | 4. Repair - Once you're done sanding you should |
| without a lot of ornate decorations. You may also | | | | check the piece over and make any structural repairs |
| want to avoid trying your hand at refinishing priceless | | | | if they are needed. Check dovetail joints to make |
| antiques and furniture that is in need of extensive | | | | sure they are tight and consider replacing any metal |
| repair. A simple chest of drawers or a single chair is a | | | | hardware if it is not functioning properly or could |
| good start. Assess the piece of furniture and make | | | | damage the wood of the furniture. |
| sure it is mostly sturdy and able to be refinished. A | | | | 5. Finish - Finally, you can now apply a finish to your |
| flea market or large garage sale is sometimes the | | | | new piece of furniture! There are several different |
| perfect place to find old dressers or toyboxes that | | | | options for staining from water based to oil based to |
| have been painted over but are just waiting to be | | | | Gel stains. They all have advantages and |
| refinished. | | | | disadvantages and the stain you choose may depend |
| 2. Removing the finish - Now that you have a piece | | | | upon the type of wood you're working with and |
| of furniture you'll want to remove the existing finish. | | | | refinishing. After applying several coats of stain you'll |
| Often this finish is paint and it can be removed | | | | then want to add a protecting coat which will also |
| several ways. Using a chemical paint stripper that is | | | | depend up the type of wood and the type of stain |
| made exclusively for wood is a good start, but you'll | | | | you are using. |
| also need a lot of elbow grease, some steel brushes | | | | The process of refinishing a piece of wood, no |
| and a paint scraper to really get that paint off. This is | | | | matter how large or how small, is a long one which |
| sometimes the most time consuming part of the | | | | often requires a lot of patience, a little bit of |
| entire job. Once you begin to remove the finish you | | | | creativity and a fair bit of persistance. Many people |
| should try to identify what type of wood your | | | | find that once they've refinished one piece of |
| furniture is made out of because that may affect | | | | furniture that they can't wait to find the next piece |
| how you sand and even how you ultimately refinish | | | | of wooden furniture to fix up and refinish! |
| the piece. | | | | |