how not to refinish a wood table, part 1

I intended to blog about a table that I painted several months ago...a table that had been sadly abandoned on the sidewalk. The table is solid wood, with a double dropleaf, and pretty well-constructed. Unfortunately, some misguided soul (or marker-happy child) had defaced the surface with a heavy Sharpie. I figured the only way to hide the marker was to prime and paint the table in a clean, true white.

Fast-forward to moving day. The table had been moved and rolled around between two apartments - each time leaving a trail of white paint. Yeah, the paint was chipping and peeling off, and marking up any surface it came into contact with. I'm guessing that a lack of any protective topcoat, a heavy hand with the paintbrush, and a cheapo can of trim paint, all contributed to this epic fail. Clearly we could not use this as our everyday dining table.

After a ton of research, I decided to strip the paint off and refinish the piece with wood stain. On paper, it sounded so easy. But as these things usually go, it was one disaster after the next. Thankfully, I'm super happy with the end product, but learned a ton of lessons along the way. Here are a few tips to know in advance of attempting a project of this magnitude.

* As Emily Henderson advises, if the wood is in good condition, or if the piece is vintage, don't paint it. I tend to agree. It's a crime to cover up good wood (guilty as charged here). Staining, when done right, really brings out the beauty of the wood and makes it a unique piece.

* Estimate how much time you'll need for each step, and then multiply that by 3. At the very least, ensure that you'll have 2-3 consecutive non-rainy days for each step. Seriously. This project has taken me way more time than I anticipated. Part of the problem was that I had to do all of the work on the patio, and plan around rainy days and freezing cold weather. A garage would have made things much easier.

* Make sure you have PLENTY of ventilation. Every material, from the paint stripper, to the poly finish, is nasty nasty stuff. The fumes are strong. Even when working outside, I'd sometimes find myself a little nauseous or light-headed. If I had to do it again, I'd use a mask throughout the entire process.

* Similarly, make sure you have plenty of protective gloves. Like heavy-duty, chemical-resistant gloves.

* Don't attempt to chemically-strip unless: 1-it's a piece that has only linear shapes (as in no curved legs or intricate carvings) or 2-you have a lot of space and a hose. Getting the previous finish off is nasty work...you need to scrape it off the piece with a spatula-like tool. You can get into small crevices with steel wool, a toothbrush, pipe cleaner, etc, but it's a huge pain. There are chemical strippers that can be hosed off after the application time, but make sure you're in a well-ventilated, open space and you collect the goo after it's been hosed off (it needs to be disposed of in a certain way or it can spontaneously combust-yikes!)

* Follow the directions on the containers to a t. Don't try to cheat dry times or application tips. Something will definitely go wrong and trying to undo mistakes (like removing an excess of stain that you didn't wipe off correctly) is often very difficult and messy.

* Temperature makes a difference. I had trouble with tacky stain that wouldn't wipe off properly, and chemical stripper that wouldn't peel up, and I think the low outside temperatures contributed to my problems. The containers state that you shouldn't really work in conditions below 65 degrees or excessively hot and humid weather.

* Don't freak out if at first the piece doesn't look exactly how you envisioned it. I was so unhappy with the look of the table until I applied the first coat of poly. Once it had that little shine and smoothness, the color and grain really stood out beautifully.

Up next: the play by play!