Bathroom wood veneer refinishing mishap


Midcenturydreamer

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Hi all, I’m a major newbie but an enthusiastic one at that.  I’m determined to wood veneer my cheapo mdf previously vinyl veneered bathroom cabinet. I did ok with the first step, of the actual edging the face frame and then veneering and edging door.  I mean, it wasn’t pro level by any stretch, but for my first time, I was content with the result.  I used psa walnut wood veneer, plain sliced.  

 

Heres a pic of the raw finished veneer job. 

 

Now, the problems started when I wanted to stain the veneer.  I love the Midcentury look, so I wanted it a touch darker than the raw veneer, but a finish that would seal the wood from water spots and look smooth but not glossy.  After watching several videos online, I decided on using danish oil.  I chose a medium walnut at my local home Improvement store.  Mistake number one, didn’t test a patch of the veneer first with color and was instantly disappointed bc was too dark.  I wanted light walnut, which I purchased later, tested properly and loved.  Ugh!!!! 

so didn’t want to sand the thin veneer down and waste that money, so I just applied second coat, wiped off excess and was accepting of it.  Didn’t look bad at all, just not exactly what I’d wanted.  Like I said, I’m a newbie, so all the epic fails, I’ll make them, but it’s about learning and growing from those mishaps, so I’m all for that.  Happens to us all. 

 

Ok, so finish looked decent, smooth but seemed to need a clear waterproofing coat in my opinion, probably a light sanding first too.   After a few days, seemed a bit too dry and matte.  I could tell that wouldn’t withstand much in the realm of stains or any water.  So again, found some videos on finishing danish oil and realized I made an even bigger mistake, I should’ve conditioned the wood veneer.   This wouldve helped me avoid blotchiness and aid in the finish going on more evenly from the start.  Ok, so then I felt a bit more defeated but what could I do, so I set my mind to sealing and making sure I avoided that mistake again on my master bathroom cabinet.  I didn’t, haha, I got way ahead of myself and forgot to do the conditioning on the  face frame edging, but not as noticeable so not a huge fail.  At least I used the light walnut danish oil.  I’ll have to take these pics to show how much better that color looks, but that’s to me, because I like it.  

 

Ok, so to get back to my epic fail, it was after I applied the Satin wax coat.  It covered fine and was smooth and satin as advertised, at first.  Then, come a week later, kids using the bathroom over and over and the doors looked kinda dull again and a bit blotched with water stains or maybe toothpaste, who knows.  Plain and simple, didn’t look amazing, just super amateur, which is all true, but I wanted better.  

 

This is turn led to my most recent mistake,  the biggest one.  Now I truly feel like a home improvement junkie gone wrong.  I lightly sanded the door down, seemed fine, then applied a thin coat of varathane wood conditioner.  This seemed fine, as it took into the wood and then applied a new coat of the medium walnut danish oil and after 15 mins, wiped off excess.  Looked more even and was super smooth now.  Ok, so I decided to do all of the cabinet that way.  Not a good idea being I had just undertaken using restore a finish on two Midcentury pieces I’d purchased on offer up and wanted to bring back to life.  Those looked pretty nice, but after all day of sanding, conditioning, waiting, chasing two kids, a 1 year old climbing monster and a 4 year old up and down cranky man, then using the restore a finish and wiping clean, ahhhhhh, I was a zombie. Case in point, stop there and come back tomorrow.  But no, that’s not me, I need to finish what I started now.  So I sanded all the doors lightly, applied the conditioner with steel wool and then waited a bit before applying the danish oil again with steel wool as well.  Looked good but then I sat down to eat dinner, both kids now in bed and I fell asleep.  Ohhhh noooo, I forgot to wipe off after the 15 mins or so.  I wake up this morning and it’s a sticky mess, as if I poured grease all over them.  I wiped down with water a few times and a bit smoother, but I’m perplexed, because I think I ruined my entire project now.  Did I? 

 

Now I need major help to remedy this or hear from an experienced worker, that I need to throw in the towel on this set of veneer and start again, ahh, more money down the drain, or how to fix it right!  Yes, I know, I need to learn patience and that’s not one of my strong suits.  I do know to do things right, it needs to be a process and it’s not all in a day, as seen on tv how to programs.  This is why I write this, because I want to do my master bathroom veneer project right.  Learning from this will help that, or so I hope.  

 

Please help me if anyone has any advice.  Be gentle, I’m an enthusiastic mom, not a pro.  I do want to learn how to do this right.  

 

 

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all the stains from

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Dreamer, it looks like you did a fine job applying the  veneer. I think you know this now, but the very biggest mistake was not using scraps to try out the finishing on. What you have now is a dogs breakfast of different & not necessarily compatible finishes. I can't tell from the photos because the defects you describe don't really show up, but fixing them may well involve doing the veneer over again. It's so thin that it won't take much sanding (almost none, really) to rub through the veneer.

I've not ever used PSA veneer, but is it compatible with oil based finishes? Most PSAs are dissolved or at least degraded by oils & solvents, so check that out. I have pretty strong opinions about staining, and if a wood is blotch prone, it shouldn't be stained. You can do minor color adjustments by applying oil finishes, shellac, or dye. But walnut is not prone to blotching and you didn't stain it, so I don't understand why you felt the need to apply a wood conditioner. That's just one more step to complicate & possibly mess things up.

I'm sure others more experience than I will join the discussion with better information, but here's what I'd do.

If the PSA veneer is okay with oil finishes, just use a matte or satin wipe on poly, such as Arm-R-Seal, probably 3 coats. Wipe on puts down very thin coats and with just 3 low sheen coats it will still look like wood, not plastic. The poly has a bit of an amber tone to it which will warm up the walnut beautifully without darkening it much. If you want to give it a different tone, then get some dye & try applying it in dilute, light layers until you get the effect you want. Then go poly.

If the PSA in not okay with oils, then use water borne poly. But most water borne finishes do not have the amber tone & will leave the walnut looking kind of lifeless & a little gray. So try the dye before applying the poly.

Good luck & welcome to the forum!

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Thanks for your input.  I will not condition the new project veneer as suggested and bypass the staining.  Based on yoir options, I’m thinking of the wipe on poly, an oil based should work fine as it’s approved for the veneer sheets I have.  Should I lightly sand in between with 220 though? 

 

I was able to remove a lot of the sticky stain residue from the job listed above.  I used warm soap and water with a jersey rag a few times.  Then I applied a bit of olive oil and much better but still a touchy tacky in spots. The stain looks ok so for now, I will bypass redoing and save a bit of money.  

 

Eventually I will tackle my entire kitchen cabinets. Will be tough and time consuming but no budget for a total remodel now, so doing this to have a nice aesthetic look until that time comes. 

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I think you'll get this figured out. I can't remember the details on Danish Oil but you may not have given it enough time to cure if you did a heavy application. As with a lot of coatings generally thinner is better. If you are transition from one finish to another it's good to make sure those finishes are compatible. If in doubt a coat of Zinser Seal Coat Between different finishes will help. Seal coat is dewaxed shellac and i haven't found something that it doesn't stick to yet. Seal Coat may be an option for the place you are at now. Make sure to give everything a few days to cure completely and also if you did use olive oil and soapy water you'll want any residue removed. Denatured alcohol is the route i'd go.

If this was my bathroom i'd do a light coat of seal coat on the veneer and then do 3-4 coats of wipe on poly or Arm R seal. I'd go with a finer sand paper something like 400 for between coats. I've found that 220 works but it sometimes leaves scratches that you can see after. If you get little finish globs n the paper it needs to cure longer. I usually give at least 12 hours between coats. Finish is a patients game and trying to rush it will lead to disaster.

My opinion is once you start dealing with tints/dyes/stains a spray application is best as it avoids blotching and uneven coloring. This is usually outside the capabilities of a beginner and requires spray equipment and a good place to use it.

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It is not. Specifically SealCoat is a dewaxed shellac. The Varathane is a Water based Acrilic resin. Seal Coat is the only product of it's kind that i know of. Most often dewaxed shellac is sold as flakes that the user then dissolves in ethyl alcohol.

Shellac as stated above is a magic product that sticks to literally everything. And everything sticks to it. (not literally there may be some stuff that it doesn't stick to or vise versa)

Unfortunately i don't know if Home Depot carries the product. I buy it at Menards and don't really know all the places that it can be found but i linked a store locator below you'll have to check each specifically for SealCoat.

https://www.rustoleum.com/pages/help-and-support/store-locator

 

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