BlsdMama Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I've done a couple very minor furniture pieces, but I have made a mistake beyond a mistake. Let's start with a story... Once upon a time my husband had a great (and long) out of country trip planned. I decided to "surprise" him. The kids and I pulled up the flooring, painted the kitchen, removed all the doors from the kitchen cabinets, and added a layer of tinted poly. Okay, well, fast forward a little... The floor looks great. But, when I put on the first layer of tinted poly (and it was ONLY supposed to be ONE layer) it wasn't quite even. (You remember cutting your toddler's bangs, right?) Sigh. That was six months ago. I kept adding layers until it was even. Turns out that's about four layers. Now my gorgeous (but oudated) red oak cabinets are dark. I like them dark, but it turns out that tinted poly is NOWHERE near the same as staining and putting on poly. Turns out IT CHIPS!!!!!!!! Do you know how hard kids are on kitchen cabinets? Nine kids? Hard. So my once gorgeous kitchen is no longer. 34 doors, frames, 12 drawers. They have arches. I thought about buying new doors and ordering them larger to make them appear frameless. The other part of me says just strip the darn things. I'm also aware that I tucker out easier these days, especially on my feet. I could do 1-2 hours a day, and I wonder if I could just plan on doing a bank of cabinets a day (so about 2 weeks worth) and then doors in sets of 4-5 (so another two weeks to include drawers) Staining is infinitely easier. Frustrated. Usually my projects work to some degree but this was an utter fail on a HUGE scale. And it's my kitchen. I know ya'all will be shocked to hear this, but I LIKE my stuff behind doors in my kitchen. We have crumbs sometimes. (Roll eyes.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 YMMV, but in my experience, removing multiple layers of poly is a serious PITA. Brush on thick (gel) stripper, wait, scrape off as much as you can with a putty knife, reapply stripper and try to work the rest off with steel wool, and then if you have trim/moulding with nooks and crannies, repeat a third time with a toothbrush to get it all out, wash it off, sand it all down, then restain the color you want. Repeat for every cabinet door and drawer front and then the frames and then replace all the hardware. I stripped some large oak bookcases that had a lot of panels and moulding and it was a nightmare. And TBH I finally gave up on one of the bookcases after the 4th or 5th round of stripper and decided to just go with a distressed/shabby chic look on that one. I may eventually paint it. IMO doing an entire kitchen would a huge, exhausting job. Do you have a heated garage or workshop where you can work during the winter? Can you live with the kitchen looking a mess if it takes you several months? Personally I would just order new doors and start over. You'll have a much better result in the end, and you'll save yourself a huge amount of hassle and misery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonbon Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 (edited) I'm not sure if your post is a JAWM or a specific question...and I always want to be an en-courager, not a dis-courager... I'm a big believer in doing things consistently, repeatedly, in small "bites", to reach a big end goal... But... I bought a vintage bathroom wall-hung medicine cabinet and a an antique vanity (dry sink) several years ago. Needed to change the color of both (one was a dingy cream, the other a weird blue-yuck-green)... I thought, "How hard can it be to strip and repaint them?" Little did I know that it would take over my LIFE for a chunk of time. I persevered through the process the previous poster wrote out (strip, wait, scrape, reapply, strip again, deal with trim and nooks/crannies, reapply/wait/strip on thicker areas...wash, sand, paint, repaint x2-3 coats, seal with clear varnish, depending). What else could I do? I wasn't going to trash these very-specific pieces that I found and bought to go into very-specific spots in a small bathroom... Those might be the first and last things I ever strip and refinish! It was a painstaking, frustrating process that I thought would never end. 😆 So, I dunno...if you have a lot of patience and a certain amount of stick-to-it-ive-ness and won't bog down in the process-- Go for it! But, the sheer number of doors you listed makes me cringe! Any way of hiring it out -- or some of the process? If it helps ease your pain, our contractor (professional painter by trade) told me how he and his team worked painstakingly on repainting a large kitchen of cabinets, drawers, etc. The paint peeled within a few months. Little did they know: their main paint supplier/manufacturer had changed the formulation of the paint they'd used for decades. They had to strip, sand, and repaint the entire kitchen. For "free" (obviously). So, apparently, it happens to pros too. Edited November 13, 2019 by vonbon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 8 hours ago, BlsdMama said: 34 doors... They have arches. That alone would make it a big fat NOPE for me. You will spend weeks with a toothbrush getting the poly out of the arches... and then comes sanding. Have you ever tried sanding anything with curved moldings? You'll need those sponge-type sanding blocks to get most of it, and then you'll be folding sandpaper and using the edge to try to get into the curved grooves. Times 34 doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 6 hours ago, Corraleno said: That alone would make it a big fat NOPE for me. You will spend weeks with a toothbrush getting the poly out of the arches... and then comes sanding. Have you ever tried sanding anything with curved moldings? You'll need those sponge-type sanding blocks to get most of it, and then you'll be folding sandpaper and using the edge to try to get into the curved grooves. Times 34 doors. Honestly, it's the stupid arches that are hanging me up. I spent DAYS just putting layers of the tinted poly and getting them so they didn't have drips and were evenly colored. I have NO idea how I'd get the stain out evenly so it looks right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 14 hours ago, Corraleno said: YMMV, but in my experience, removing multiple layers of poly is a serious PITA. Brush on thick (gel) stripper, wait, scrape off as much as you can with a putty knife, reapply stripper and try to work the rest off with steel wool, and then if you have trim/moulding with nooks and crannies, repeat a third time with a toothbrush to get it all out, wash it off, sand it all down, then restain the color you want. Repeat for every cabinet door and drawer front and then the frames and then replace all the hardware. I stripped some large oak bookcases that had a lot of panels and moulding and it was a nightmare. And TBH I finally gave up on one of the bookcases after the 4th or 5th round of stripper and decided to just go with a distressed/shabby chic look on that one. I may eventually paint it. IMO doing an entire kitchen would a huge, exhausting job. Do you have a heated garage or workshop where you can work during the winter? Can you live with the kitchen looking a mess if it takes you several months? Personally I would just order new doors and start over. You'll have a much better result in the end, and you'll save yourself a huge amount of hassle and misery. It's been several months. Sigh - I'm at like month 6-7 without all my doors on and it's getting really old. Not to mention there is going to be this point where I can't stand there and maintain my balance. I'm thinking about going and pricing doors. If I did a full overlay, it would modernize what I have and the stain on the frames wouldn't have to be SO exact to the doors, which means I could order them stained. What do you think they'll cost? I'm seeing about $40/door online, but unsure of the quality. Currently I have really nice, heavy red oak doors. I honestly don't want crappy cheap ones - I'd rather paint these and I HATE painting oak. (I am one of the outdated freaks who loves, loves, loves, loves the heavy grain of oak cabinets.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Look around locally at having the cabinets professionally refaced. They put veneer over the frames, install new doors, hardware, and pulls. It looks like a new kitchen, it's done in 2-3 days, a week if you want new counters too, and you don't have to do any of the work yourself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Katy said: Look around locally at having the cabinets professionally refaced. They put veneer over the frames, install new doors, hardware, and pulls. It looks like a new kitchen, it's done in 2-3 days, a week if you want new counters too, and you don't have to do any of the work yourself. Friend did this before she put her house on the market. It looked great and she was very happy with the end result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonbon Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Despite the fact that you love the look of heavy oak grain, any chance you would consider painting *everything* white or some other color? I'm seeing lots of color on cabinets here and there (grays, navy, etc.), though I'm not really into decor trends. Seems like you might be able to just paint over everything after thorough washing, light sanding, tack cloth? Not that that would be your ideal-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 33 minutes ago, vonbon said: Despite the fact that you love the look of heavy oak grain, any chance you would consider painting *everything* white or some other color? I'm seeing lots of color on cabinets here and there (grays, navy, etc.), though I'm not really into decor trends. Seems like you might be able to just paint over everything after thorough washing, light sanding, tack cloth? Not that that would be your ideal-- We finally did this in my previous kitchen after our diy attempts at refinishing and staining didn’t work out as we planned. The painted cabinets turned out looking good but not the look that I was originally aiming for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeachGal Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 I used Smart Strip to remove the many layers of paint on doors, molding and other surfaces in our 1940s home. It has no VOCs and is easy to apply because it's a paste similar to the old-time Elmer's glue paste. It smells a bit like the old Elmer's glue paste, too. For what you're removing, you would paint on about a layer about 1/8 - 3/16" thick, just enough so it's not too transparent, cover it with waxed paper, and let it set (dwell) for about 12 hours or so. At that point, lift up a portion to see if it's dwelled long enough to remove the poly. Most of the poly should cling to the waxed paper when you do this. Then, immediately, take a scraping tool and begin scraping off the remaining poly. You don't want it to dry. After that, I use wet, rough green sponges to remove embedded poly. You'd probably need one for each door. Some areas, such as crevices, might need another light layer and you'd just repeat the process. After all that, I sand with my Bosch random orbit sander using only Bosch or Mirka sand paper discs. For crevices, I just fold the sandpaper and hand sand. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Dumond-Smart-Strip/1000615057 You're doing a lot of doors, though, so I'd probably do what Katy is suggesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
history-fan Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 We found a place that would strip wood and either we refinish or they would. They had vats and would dunk the wood. I think we called around asking different cabinet places and found them that way. They did cabinets and full size doors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonbon Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 8 hours ago, history-fan said: We found a place that would strip wood and either we refinish or they would. They had vats and would dunk the wood. I think we called around asking different cabinet places and found them that way. They did cabinets and full size doors. Wow! That is cool! I, too, tried the environmentally-friendly / less toxic stripping stuff and wonder if that's part of what made the whole process take so long. It just didn't work very well. I had to use a LOT of it and I think I might have resorted to the strong / bad kind to get the final layers of paint and gunk off. 9 hours ago, BeachGal said: I used Smart Strip Sounds like the Smart Strip would be more better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 14 hours ago, history-fan said: We found a place that would strip wood and either we refinish or they would. They had vats and would dunk the wood. I think we called around asking different cabinet places and found them that way. They did cabinets and full size doors. That is what I was going to suggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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