How to Refinish a Kitchen Table

46Comments

I have that exact table and was searching for tips how to refinish the top! Thanks!

Merri

Mar 9, at 4:13pm

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Thirty-two years ago, I got engaged. I heard that the Ponderosa Steak House was getting new tables and were selling their old ones. I leaped on that. So I purchased a small table and bench for me and my future husband. Maybe about 4 ft long. I striped it and stained it to match chairs that I had purchased else where. I have just decided it needs to be refinished and I stripped it with the stripper that you used. It does work great. I will now use all the other items you have mentioned and your techniques to refinish it. I can not wait. I am sure it will look 100 times better than the first time I did it. Thank you so much. .......:)

Chris

Feb 25, at 8:44pm

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Hi Chris, I did redo my kitchen cabinets. They are birch and veneer too. I did this about 30 years ago. I stained them dark walnut..............country was very much in back then.................anyway, I had no real idea what I was doing other than what I read. I did us striper on all of that project. Zip strip or what ever I could afford at that time. It was thick. Any of those are fine. Not one time did the veneer come off. No hint of it coming off. I sanded too. Good luck. I am not going to take those same cabinets and paint them this summer, I am doing my home work. I have to paint because they are too dark to ever try to remove the stain, and I have already sanded them so I do not want to take any chances with sanding all the veneer off. I think it will be fine. Good luck and do your research. I wish I had this video to watch when I did mine 30 years ago...............:).

Chris

Feb 25, at 8:32pm

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I followed all the tips refinishing my table and it looks fantastic: thank you. Now the issue I have is probably simple, but the solution is eluding me. How do I adjust the legs so that it stops wobbling like a drunken sailor? It was solid and steady when I took it apart and now, regardless of how I tightened the legs (which I numbered and returned to their original positions), it still isn't firmed up. Help!

Craig Coelho

Jan 26, at 7:46am

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hey ron the satin polurethane that you applyed ,you said that you put qn 3 coats and in between each coat you sanded , what grid of sand paper did you use to sand with 220 or 240 or did you use steel wool waiting for your answer thanks ron for all your help.

frank

Dec 13, at 8:35pm

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Ron, Your video made me laugh. Great work, clearly, you are an artist at heart. Well done. Ram

Raj Nabar

Nov 10, at 6:12am

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Your video was very helpful. I was doing a very similar table and it was coming out excellent. I hadn't heard about using the finishing wax though and am glad I saw your video to point out that it is a good ending to this project.

Gwen

Oct 31, at 4:12pm

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No need to cry over spilled milk with the nice finish on that Table.

Mrps Great buys

Oct 24, at 12:23am

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Ron,
What's up with the skylight over layer on your videos?
You have some pretty neat videos. But these overlays on top of the videos are very annoying.

Mark

Oct 15, at 9:05am

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This is the best most comprehensive video yet...thanks

Kelti

Sep 19, at 1:50pm

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Great job on the video, best out there. I feel that thanks to you I can refinish my kitchen table.
thanks Bill T.

Bill T

Aug 28, at 11:02pm

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how long are you allowing each coat of poly to dry in between?

debbie

Jun 13, at 5:15pm

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Excelent. Very informatove and easily understood. A great big thanks from upstate New York. Nick De

Nicholas De

Jun 3, at 12:35pm

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i got a brand new table and put chairs up side down on table with the leather seat touching table 2 months later after kitchen was finshed took them off and it had pull of the color and laquer ,iam so piss until i seen your video it looks so simple and if i do everything u explaine i should get the same results, so dont get mad be gald theres people like u to show us how to do that,i will get back with u and tell u how it turns out thank you pam may 24,2012

pamela romero

May 24, at 7:47am

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Ron, Thanks for all your tips! I took a mahogany drop-leaf table in terrible condition from the 1850's, and it is looking great. I disassembled, stripped all of the paint, and sanded all of the wood. I then applied Minwax Red Mahogany stain followed by 7 coats of Minwax Satin Wipe-On Poly. This has been curing for about 3 days. It looks great now, but would you recommend now applying Minwax Paste Finishing Wax? It says on the can of wax for lighter colored woods, and I want to get your opinion before I try it out. Thanks again for all your help!!

Mike

May 22, at 12:06pm

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Thanks so much for video. I have been looking for something to help me re finish my table. I have one question, I was just wondering on table legs and things that have a lot of detail work that are not very smooth, how do you go about sanding and stripping that?

Krissy

Apr 4, at 4:55pm

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Ron, Thanks for this walk through. I am in the process of staining my kitchen table to a different color entirely! By using your suggestions, things are going nicely & I am on the last chair before I clean and start applying the stain! I cant wait to see the final product!

Ginny

Mar 24, at 7:39pm

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Great video! My oak table is 20 years old. Parts of the table are very sticky. Is that is finish that has been coming off? Is there any other thing I can do besides refinishing? Just curious. Thanks

Chris

Mar 21, at 8:20pm

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THANK YOU. That looks exactly like our table. I have never done a project like this and now I know how.

Gil

Mar 12, at 8:01pm

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I always had a problem getting a smooth finish on flat surfaces until I tried your steelwool and pastwax method. This works great. I have showed my other woodworking friends and they couldn't believe the outcome. Ron thanks for this great tip. I have used this on two tables and a chair already.

John LeSage

Mar 10, at 8:21am

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Really helpful! Thank you!

Sharon

Mar 2, at 9:19am

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The video has really enthused me. I am ready to redo my Drexel tabletop. The only problem is matching the stain color. It seems to be a pecan color. I am glad you showed how to add a color to the main stain.

susan irving

Feb 12, at 11:35am

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Excelente trabajo Ron muchas gracias.

Juan Contreras Carvajal

Feb 6, at 8:02am

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Ron, I just refinished my 20 year old solid oak (no veneer) kitchen table top. It was in about the same condition as the one in your video. It looked terrible! I contemplated getting a new table until I saw this video. I followed your step by step instructions and I am amazed with the results. The table top looks better than the day I bought it. I am pretty handy and have worked with polyurethane quite a bit but I never knew about the finishing wax and steel wool. It gave the final coat the factor finish that a kitchen table needs. Awesome project!

Tom D

Jan 29, at 10:51am

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Tom D

Jan 28, at 5:43pm

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Great video which makes it seem fairly easy. I do have a question however regarding the polyurethane. Did you use semi-gloss or satin on this project? When you were stirring the clear coat poly in the can you said that it was a semi-gloss that you were using, but when you began to apply the finish you said it was a satin finish. I liked the finished results of the table and would like to use the same finish. Also, you said that you lightly sanded between the three coats of poly but the video didn’t show what you sanded with. Steel wool or sand paper? Thanks

Jerry Alvarez

Jan 27, at 5:07pm

46Comments

Great video which makes it seem fairly easy. I do have a question however regarding the polyurethane. Did you use semi-gloss or satin? When you were stirring the clear coat in the can you said that it was a semi-gloss that you were using but when you began to apply the finish you said it was a satin finish. I liked the finished results of the table and would like to use the same finish. Also, you said that you lightly sanded between the three coats of poly but the video didn’t show what you sanded with. Steel wool or sand paper? Thanks

Jerry Alvarez

Jan 27, at 5:02pm

46Comments

Great job Ron ,I'm going to follow this same method to refinish a table for a friend This is the best video I've seen, you know what your doing. Thank for this video Gilles

Gilles Bonneteau

Jan 23, at 1:23am

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Ron At the Home depot store ,there is a product that you mix for tables like you would see in a restaurants mixing resin with a hardener 50%/ 50% mix .I was going to granite my counter top in kitchen , I was wondering if this product could be use to cover the formica counter top with the back splash .Iknow it is tricky ..Iwas wondering if you could contact the supplier and see if they could show me or use the trick on using this product it is expense and approx $25. per 9 square feet which is much cheap than a granite counter top and high gloss looks great and it seems like it is hard as a rock,, any suggestions ...p.s. love the show keep up the great work for passing along the knowledge for us home repair men thank steve

Steve Di Sano

Jan 21, at 8:01am

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I conditioned, stained, this went well. Applying the varnish/poly, first coat 24hrs to dry, sand with 220 then 600/lemon oil and cleaned with spirits, second coat the same way, third coat applied like the first two with a good pure bristle brush. The final finish came out with little dust particals and what looks to be air bubbles. I have a nice new 20 x 28 shop to work in and I did my best to ensure it was dust free. Unfortunately I don't have a paint booth and exhauste fan. I have re-sanded and started over a couple of times with the same results. What I'm I doing wrong. On an existing piece, if I use Furniture Refinisher, will it remover the stain?

Bob

Jan 20, at 9:45pm

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Thanks Sir, This tips is very useful for my work Regards Kuldeep

kuldeep

Jan 9, at 10:33am

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Great procedure Ron. I tried it on Friends night stand. Looks like new.Thanks

Kevin Cox

Dec 24, at 8:12am

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I have a square table with a very thin(I mean very thin) veneer on top. Almost paper thin. There are many chips in it. Cover up stain pens don't cover the chips. What can I do to fix the problem?

Paul C

Dec 4, at 10:27pm

46Comments

Hi we are trying to refinish our maple table that is about 50 years old we are at the final stages and the 2nd layer of top coat has developed some bubbles any suggestions on what to do and to keep it from happening with the 3rd and possably fourth coat.

misty

Nov 17, at 5:08pm

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Great Video, We just had our Oak Table Refinished and concerned about the Oak Grains not being filled in. The openings or grains make the table look nice but as a Kitchen table im worried about dirt and water getting into them. Should a Oak Table top have a thick finish with no grains?

Kevin

Nov 10, at 11:28am

46Comments

You mentioned that the table top was veneer so I have a comment/question regarding veneer. Our kitchen cabinets are for the most part solid birch but the end of the cabinets are covered in veneer. I have read that using stripper solutions can sometimes have an effect on the glue holding the veneer to what ever is underneath. Thus making the veneer come unglued and peel away. I would like to strip all the cabinets and stain them a little darker. I have tried sanding the inside of one of the cabinet doors but there is a thick layer of sealer and it would take forever. I would use a stripper but am afraid I would ruin the veneer and then get in over my head and budget. Any suggestions? We have a lot of cabinets! To costly to replace them all. Thanks, Chris

Chris

Nov 2, at 12:46pm

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My table about 5years old. I would like refinesh it do I have strip it I want to keep the same color

Abraham Peters

Oct 29, at 1:12pm

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Great video. Very informative but the milk spill at the end was corny:)

sean

Oct 11, at 3:31pm

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I'd like to refinish my coffee table, but there is a black line all around a few inches from the edge and I think it will be removed if I use the finish remover.

susan

Sep 28, at 4:13pm

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I refinished my 14 year old kitchen table top, and it looks amazing. Thanks for the easy to follow video. I saved hundreds of dollars. On to more projects.

Susan

Sep 28, at 4:10pm

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I would say the best part of this video is when Ron reaches for the milk, but quickly diverts to the brownie and knocks over the cup.

Todd Heifner

Sep 25, at 11:39am

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GREAT DEMO , LAYING A NEW FLOOR IN THE KITCHEN AND NOW I CAN DO THE KITCHEN TABLE. YOUR WEB SITE IS GREAT. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

LARRY W SKILLETT

Sep 16, at 10:36am

46Comments

Hi Ron, Great demo! One thing confuses me. In between coats of laquer, you say to sand lightly. Is this to roughen up the undercoat? How then do you get a smooth finish? My table is round. Any suggestions?

Heather Burton

Sep 10, at 7:25pm

46Comments

Great demo! It gave me a good understanding of what needs to happen. I could not find the liquid stripper you demonstrate but there was a Wash that I used that actually did the job. The demonstration was enough to actually coach me through my own project. Thank you!

Ron Poulin

Sep 6, at 4:23pm

46Comments

I am wanting to sand in lieu of paint remover. How do you tell when you a hit the sweet spot ?

louis C

Sep 5, at 12:13pm

46Comments

Thanks! That was fabulous. I'm in the middle of a project and beginning to panic (because of instructions for toxicity). Your demonstration calmed me down. I think I can do it. Do you have any Briwax instructions, and how do you keep your sanding bag clean? Do you wash it with water?

Barbara W

Aug 29, at 2:09pm

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How to Refinish a Kitchen Table