# How to refinish and stain oak plywood cabinets in a salon



## PAPADORF (Oct 19, 2008)

I've been contracted to remodel and update a salon and spa built in the early 80's. The styling stations are custom constructed with oak plywood faces drawer and door fronts. The client wants to save the cabinets but darken the color of the stain to a deep brown for the new interior look. The cabinet are very well made and worth saving .The existing stain is a medium brown with a poly urathane finish.They are one piece so I should be able to remove them easily to do the work in my shop. Could someone advise me on how proceed to restain and refinish these cabinet to hold up in this environment. Thanks Papadorf.


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

Ah, my dream job! 

Sand to remove the existing clear coat completely. 
Apply your darker stain which will incorporate into the old stain color and darken it.
2 coats of lacquer (sheen of your choice), unless you are thinking about some other clear coat finishes?


I am finishing some old cabinets that will receive a darker stain later this week myself.
Oh JOY!!!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## cleveman (Dec 28, 2007)

i'm afraid I would scrap the facing and fronts and just start over before I would refinish them. Of course, I'm not partial to sanding.

would you consider just touch sanding them, then coating with some Minwax Polyshades, the shade you choose? This is a stain & poly product combined and the good thing for cheesy operations like this is that you can just keep coating until it is dark enough.


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

cleveman said:


> i'm afraid I would scrap the facing and fronts and just start over before I would refinish them. Of course, I'm not partial to sanding.
> 
> would you consider just touch sanding them, then coating with some *Minwax Polyshades*, the shade you choose? This is a stain & poly product combined and the good thing for cheesy operations like this is that you can just keep coating until it is dark enough.


Even for "_cheesy_" jobs, I rely on the proper materials in order to protect my reputation.
Then again I am not in the business of polishing turds.

I *never* recommend using a product that was created to make the job easier for a homeowner; i.e. Minwax Polyshades.
Ugh.
True professionals always use professional products.

*Always.

*Sand, stain, lacquer.
:thumbsup:


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I'd go about it the old way. Stripper & scraper, sand lightly, stain and oil-base marine varnish.


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## richard123 (Oct 13, 2008)

ah good sand down is the key to this job, get all the crap off that the other decorater left, then start again on the fresh wood for best results, although the grain in oak can sometimes be quite hard to work with. used to be a painter but now stick to construction jobs!!


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## Mellison (Aug 3, 2008)

WisePainter said:


> Even for "_cheesy_" jobs, I rely on the proper materials in order to protect my reputation.
> Then again I am not in the business of polishing turds.
> 
> I *never* recommend using a product that was created to make the job easier for a homeowner; i.e. Minwax Polyshades.
> ...


 
I agree.
Minwax Polyshades = Doo Doo


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

Teetorbilt said:


> I'd go about it the old way. Stripper & scraper, sand lightly, stain and oil-base marine varnish.



A stripper would only be necessary if there were multiple clear coats, and simply sanding to remove the multiple coats would not be effective timely.

I do like the idea of an oil based marine varnish, however this particular job may do well with a simple waterborne polyacrylic.


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## WisePainter (Sep 16, 2008)

Mellison said:


> I agree.
> Minwax Polyshades = Doo Doo



Whatever it takes to convince every man woman and child that they too can produce a professional finish without the skill or knowledge of a professional, in order to suck the money from their pockets.

"Easy water and soap cleanup" is another way of saying "Sucky product that a homeowner can easily use to produce professional results on a sunny Saturday afternoon".

:laughing::laughing:


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## Msargent (Oct 30, 2008)

You could go with gel stain then sand and sealer then poly. Minwax stain has a problem if you apply sealer to fast it will become milky looking. :thumbup:


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