Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets Makes Old Cabinets Like New

By admin on January 8th, 2008

Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets Makes Old Cabinets Like New

Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets is a very simple and straight forward project as long as you have the basic tools necessary and a can do attitude. If you will be working with wood that has been finished and has many layers, you will have to strip the remaining finish using a stripping solvent mixture.

If the cabinets’ finishes have mostly worn away, then you may be able to get away with sanding down the remaining finish. If you want a perfect resurfacing job, then you must remove all of the raised portions of residual wood finish.

Using a chemical solvent to remove old wood finish is not difficult, but it can be quite time consuming and takes a fair amount of elbow grease. Apply the stripping solvent with a paint brush and allow the mixture to sit and soak into the wood for as long as the instructions say, or longer.

You’ll notice that the wood stripping solution begins to thicken and becomes bumpy. This is the solvent at work, drawing finish out of the wood itself. When it is time to remove the solvent and the old finish, you will need a combination of stiff and flexible materials with which you can scrape off the goop.

Start with a flat bladed instrument and scrape all of the flat surfaces. For the finer lines and embellishments, you will need to use something more flexible like a scrubbing pad or rough cloth of some kind. Simply remove all of the stuff coating the cabinets.

If there is still left over finish, you may have to repeat the stripping process all over again or wait until the wood is dry and use sandpaper to remove the excess, if there are only small patches of finish left on the wood’s surfaces.

You may find it useful to use a light soap and water solution to remove any excess mixture of stripping solution and old dissolved finish material. The wood must be clean and completely dry before you move on to the rest of your resurfacing kitchen cabinets project.

Once the kitchen cabinets have dried completely, you may proceed with your resurfacing plans. Whether you’re going to apply a granite countertop, some stain or paint, the preparation procedures are the same. Clean, dry surfaces make stains sink in and paint and adhesive stick for years.

I’ve found many of the home improvement websites like http://homedepot.com to be very useful in selecting all of the necessary components for projects, like hardware, adhesives and such. There are man handy guides that you can use to make sure you’re not missing anything and even which products are best for certain kinds of home improvement projects.

Also, the employees of these kinds of stores tend to be very knowledgeable about many home improvement products and procedures. If you have any questions, be sure to ask for assistance if you’re at the retail location, as it is more than likely that the people there will be able to offer all kinds of helpful suggestions.

Tags: decorating, cabinetry, Kitchen Appliance Trends, kitchen furniture, kitchen appliances