Refinishing cabinet doors

[Randy C]

I have an apartment that I rent and the kitchen cabinet doors need help. The upper cabinets still look good but the lower cabinets appear to be worn and the lower edges look to have suffered some water damage. The cabinet doors are dark stained 3/4 plywood and it looks like they need re-staining on the bottom. They appear to be sprayed with a gloss finish. I have the following questions:

1. Will I have to sand the entire door to remove the clear finish and restain the entire door or could I just sand the bottom 3-4 inches and apply stain to the area that looks bad? I think I can match the color of the stain fairly closely and if I can darken the bottom of the cabinet it should improve the looks a lot.

2. I don't know what the gloss finish is currently on the cabinet (I think it might be some sprayed lacquer), but I was planning on just using some wipe on poly to finish after the staining. Can I apply wipe on poly over the lacquer or do I need to sand off all the old lacquer?

Thanks very much

[jteneyck]

How much work you put into them depends a lot on how good you want them to look. If you want them to look brand new and match the uppers as closely as possible I think the only route is to strip them completely and start over with a new finish. That's a lot of time but will give you the best chance of achieving that goal. If you want them to look sorta OK, you could try as you propose but I'm betting the repair will be obvious. If you are OK with that then all is well.

Another option is to sand them smooth and then paint them or apply a gel stain or masking stain to mask what's there and put a clear coat on top of that. Making an intentional shift in appearance is often better than trying to match something and ending up with an obvious (and unsightly) looking repair.

You can apply wipe on poly over the current finish (and it's probably lacquer, as you said) if you first clean them really, really well, then lightly sand them with 325 grit or something close, then apply a sealer coat of Sealcoat shellac, and then the poly. Getting everything on uniformly, however, is a huge challenge; spraying is so much easier for obtaining professional looking results, especially with gloss. If you absolutely can't spray, then at least use rattle can shellac for the sealer. If you just stain the bottom section, wait until it is completely dry and then spray the entire door with the shellac, then wipe on the poly.

John

[Randy C]

Thanks John for your expert insight. I think I will experiment with one door and if it comes out good enough will go with it. If it doesn't look too good, I will do as you suggested and stain the whole door. I didn't think about the shellac. Thanks for pointing that step out.

[Paul K. Murphy]

If they are lacquer, and you use wipe on poly, you are your own enemy.
If they are lacquer, you can use lacquer. Then, you can use lacquer again as needed in the years down the road.
Rattle cans.

[BobW]

I don't have any input as to your refinishing issues...BUT, before you do anything, get written permission from your landlord. You could get dinged big at the end of your tenancy if they don't like what you've done.

[fredhargis]

Funny, when i read your post I guessed you were the landlord, only to go back and see it can be read either way. Regardless, I think doing a spot repair and expecting it to not be noticeable is a real gamble. Rethink either a complete removal or a complete covering (paint).

[BobW]

I don't know why that didn't occur to me. It does make more sense that he IS the landlord.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

Randy,

You should post some pictures. Being a rental, I'd be inclined to paint them and then touch them up in between renters.