refinishing/repainting an old dining room set?

Question

I was given an old dining room set (a Thomasville 1968) by a family member, and though it's an outdated style... I'd like to give it a face lift before I chuck it for a new set. I plan to cut down the backs of the chairs some and upholster the whole chair with micro fiber(minus the legs). I'd like to paint the pedestal table and china cabinet but don't know what to use to get a decent, rich finish. I had asked a professional what it would cost to strip the table and china cabinet down from its old finish (looks to be an oak finish)... and restain with cherry or mahogony. He said min. $1600... at that rate I would rather buy a new set.
What products can I use to paint over the wood? I'm willing to do some light sanding. Is there a product that I can use that can go over old stain/varnish that provides a rich finish? Please be specific and offer as many options as possible. Would love to hear from a proffesional on this matter.

Answer 1

MIN WAX PRODUCTS....THEY CARRY A WHOLE LINE OF STAINS AND FINISHES.....THEY ARE THE ONES WITH THE BRIGHT YELLOW LABELS.....YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPLETELY SAND JUST ROUGH UP A MITE WITH SEMI FINE SANDPAPER....THE BEST WAY TO GET A PRO LOOK IS TO TAKE A TAC CLOTH OVER IT BEFORE APPLYING THE FINAL CLEAR POLYURETHANE AND THEN AFTER THE POLYURETHANE DRIES....TAKE A REALLY SOFT OLD SWEAT SHIRT AND RUB.....ALOT IT GIVES IT A PANTINE LIKE NEW FROM THE FURN STORE.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
refinishing/repainting an old dining room set?
I was given an old dining room set (a Thomasville 1968) by a family member, and though it's an outdated style... I'd like to give it a face lift before I chuck it for a new set. I plan to cut down the backs of the chairs some and upholster the whole chair with micro fiber(minus the legs). I'd...

Answer 3

RE:
refinishing/repainting an old dining room set?
I was given an old dining room set (a Thomasville 1968) by a family member, and though it's an outdated style... I'd like to give it a face lift before I chuck it for a new set. I plan to cut down the backs of the chairs some and upholster the whole chair with micro fiber(minus the legs). ...

Answer 4

Well for starters, since you wanna DIY, instead of sanding, or using any funky weird chemicals, I suggest giving everything you want to have restained/refinished a good onceover with Easy Off, yes as in the oven cleaner. What you do is apray it on the surface, allow for it to sit for 10 minutes, then wash it off. Since you will be working with fairly large pieces, plan on it taking about 4 or 5 cans total for your entires set. But just spray it on, let it sit for 10 min, scrub it off and use plenty of water when rinsing your pieces. Be sure you wear some good rubber gloves too.

Allow for each piece to dry for about 1 day before you do any finishing. If you have any small nicks or scratches, you can get a hot iron and a wet wash cloth to have most smaller dents and nicks come out. What you do is, place the wet washcloth over the area, and press the iron over it. It gets most smaller nicks out, but dont expect it to get all of them. If you have nicks or scratches that are too big, this is where you may have to get a stainable wood filler, just dont use it for any large gouges, a rule of thumb, if its bigger than 1/4 inch, just leave it, it'll add character.

Ok, now that your pieces have dried for 24 hours, now you gotta finish. However, dont use any sand paper. I dont care what any so-called expert tells you, sand paper, bad. But steel wool, good. start off with a fine steel wool, 00 or 000, then give it a final once over with 0000 steel wool, the more 0's the finer the steel wool. This part is the laborious part, but its totally worth it.

Once your pieces are sanded, get all the dust off that you can, use a brush a cloth, what have you, just get it all off. Now that you have basically base sanded wood, now you have two options, you can either stain then finish, or finish. If you decide to stain, remember, once you have, its a pain to go back, so choose wisely. If you do stain, do not use a gel or water based stain. I prefer to use an oil based one, as they seem to coat better. When you stain, apply the stain with a rag, you can buy a bag of them at any Lowe's or Home Depot, try to use a ones that feel more like t-shirt material and are white. Ok, so you apply the stain with the rag, allowing it to soak through, just follow the directions on the can.

When it comes to finishing you have a few options to go with. I do not recommend using a brush on type of laquer. Either go with a spray on type, the finish is much smoother and easier to fix, or my personal favorite, a nice tung oil finish. I prefer to use a tung oil finish without staining the wood so you can see the natural beauty of the wood. To apply the tung oil, just take your freshly sanded, cleaned off pieces and hand rub the tung oil onto your pieces. Be sure you wear gloves. Applying the tung oil is fairly easy, just apply like I said with the stain, use a clean rag, and apply it and rub it in. This to me produces the best finish of all.

If you have any questions at all, dont hesitate to contact me.

Answer 5

Go to the HGTV.com website and they have information about refurbishing old furniture. good luck!