Restoring After Flood Damage

[MsNomer]

This walnut bed belonged to MrNomer's grandparents.  We believe it dates from the mid-1800's. It has that golden look walnut acquires with age.



Unfortunately, it was in a storage unit that flooded.  It sat in the water for about a week.



Perfect example of "They don’t make'm like they used to."  The only damage appears to be to the finish, which I assume was/is shellac.

Given that the damaged parts will not be seen much, I’m tempted to try to address the damaged without disturbing the undamaged.  I hate to disturb the golden glow of that aged wood.

Questions regarding the undamaged portion:

Would removing the shellac remove the patina of the wood if there were no sanding?

Would it be possible to feasible to remove/replace the shellac without sanding?

[jppierson]

Shellac is pretty easy to repair.
1. Remove the old wax, using Naptha, or mineral spirits or TSP. Go easy with the mineral spirits and particularly the TSP since it is water based. You don't want to damage the existing/remaining finish just get rid of the wax. The mineral spirits should not affect the shellac. You will be amazed at how well cleaning brings back the beauty of the item.
2. Start with the damaged area in the back where you can experiment somewhat. That way you can assess how the solvent may impact the existing finish.
3. To try to resurrect the water damaged finish, start with a hair dryer or heat gun on low, keep the dryer moving. What you want to do is lightly heat the shellac so it releases the trapped water. The finish will turn glossy and once it does the heat should allow the moisture to escape. When the shellac cools (it cools quickly) the finish should be in pretty decent shape. If the water bloom (think white rings on a table top) hasn't totally disappeared go over it again. This is almost magical.
4. Take a cloth DAMPENED with denatured alcohol then using a french polishing type action lightly go over the finish and sort of move the old finish to adjacent areas with little or no finish.
5. If you feel you need to add shellac, use a 1 pound cut, and again using a french polishing type of action rework the finish to your liking.
6. Once your experimental area is done, use what works and apply toward the remainder of the project as required.

None of the above should get to the point where you are actually touching or disturbing the wood itself or any dyes in the original wood. Therefore, you won't be losing any patina. The advantage of a shellac finish is that it melts and combines into previous layers of shellac creating a unified film. I use Zinslers as opposed to buying flakes and mixing my own. Since it doesn't sound like you intend to apply a modern film over the existing it doesn't matter if you use waxed or not. The amber shellac will impart some color to the project, clear shellac will not. If you go easy and thin with each application of shellac, it dries quickly and you can apply additional coats until you get the desired thickness of finish. If your french polishing action starts to drag let the finish dry longer before the next coat. Let the shellac dry overnight. You can level any streaking from the previous effort with 320 paper. Then to knock back any gloss take quad ought steel wool and your favorite paste wax and knock off the dust nibs and gloss simultaneously. Buff and your done.

If you find that the damaged area is so severe that you must sand, it is almost guaranteed that you will lose the patina. At this point you will need to use dye or stain to match surrounding areas. Again start in areas that wont normally be seen and use your inner artist to get as close as you can. You can add dye to the shellac also which would then act as a toner to help unify coloring.

Hope this helps.

[MsNomer]

Thanks a lot. It will be a while (months) before I can address this, but in the meantime, it will have a chance to thoroughly dry.

[Turner52]

You can also place a dry towel over the damage and use an iron set on low. This works best on flat surfaces, so I;m not sureif you would be able to get at all of the damaged areas. If at all possible do not strip or sand. matching the color and patina after that while doable is very difficult. Fortunatly like you said the damage is in the least noticeable areas of that beautiful and sentimental bed. Good luck.

[Bluepine]

Carolyn, how did your husbands photos fair after the flood?

[MsNomer]

Carolyn, how did your husbands photos fair after the flood?

He says he lost about a fourth of what was there.  I don’t know how much of that was photos.  I know not to ask.  Both of his parents were geologists, too, and much of this stuff he associates with them.  He says it’s like losing them all over again.

[jteneyck]

If it sat in water for a week I'm guessing the finish is irreparably damaged.  You'll know for sure after it has thoroughly dried.  The good news is even if the finish can't be saved the patina of the wood should still be fine, as long as the water didn't cause further damage.  So if the finish, most likely shellac as you said, can't be saved then remove it with DNA or even paint stripper, neither will hurt the underlying wood.  Once the finish is removed you should be able to wipe, spray, or brush on new shellac to affect a good repair.  You may have to dye the wood or add dye to the shellac to make a toner in order to match the color, but with careful work you should be able to make a very acceptable repair.

If the underlying wood was damaged by the water, then you'll likely have no choice but to get out the sandpaper and remove the damage.  At that point, you will almost certainly have to dye or use toner it to get a good color match, but it can be done and done well.

Good luck,


John