I Want To Refinish Oak Cabinets, To A Lighter Shade, Without Painting Them, But The Home Builder, "Says No"?

Question

I just built a new home that has Oak Cabinets through-out. I decided I do not like them, and want to remove this Light Oak Gel Stain from the Oak Wood, and Re-Stain all of them, to a Lighter Color, or perhaps to use a Pickel Finish.

My Dilemma: The Builder Said, "It Is To Late", that once Oak is stained with anything, the only thing I can do is to paint over them.

If at-all-possible, I do not want to paint my Cabinets, they are just to pretty. If you have a proven technology, please send it on to me.

Thank You,

Answer 1

You are dealing with more than Stain if they are finished- they are sealed and laqured. and its dam near impossible to do what you want. Stain goes deep into wood.

Answer 2

there are ways to do it but it cost money. Like the one guy said most likely it is finished with lacquer if it was done custom, or it could of been finished with varnish. Now it is hard to strip away all these finishes, for instance lacquer u would have to remove it with lacquer thinner, then depending on how they did their staining u might have to treat it with bleach to remove the stain.But the sound of the gel stain most likely they used varnish finish which means u need to get a solvent called marine kwaik paint & varnish remover. This stuff is strong so u need to get rubber gloves and cover urself, if touched on your skin it will burn. Once u remove the varnish u will probably have to sand out or bleach out the color. I would recommend sanding cause bleach can cause spots if not done properly. I think the builder said no because they probably used this tecnique, and it is costly to restart. There is faux finish but that would mean u would have to get it painted then do lacquer finish. I think if u dont want to spend money its best u stay with the finish. It will get messy and costly to get it started all over.Oh , by the way did u get ur house painted already by the builder or do u need custom painting? Are u in California, I'm in Orange county. If same my contact # 714-293-4886

Answer 3

check the peel away systems by dumond chemicals they make a variety of safe strippers just type peel away in your browser and click on to the link best i can offer