Expert: Greg Scholl - 1/8/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello, Greg     Maybe you can help me. I have a situation where one of my customers has cherry kitchen cabinets that seem to have a laquered finish on them. The problem is that there is a small amount of blistering that is occurring on some of the inside corners of the panels and frames. The cabinets are about 20 years old but in very nice shape. A total of 36 doors and 4 or 5 have the blistering. My question is, would I be able to scrape and sand the damaged area, re-apply the laquer or poly to the area for a build up, resand the complete door with 320, and apply a few coats of waterlux satin. Is this possible?

ANSWER: Hi Louie, you can't use poly, Varnish(WaterLux?), or an oil finish like WaterLox  over lacquer. You can use lacquer, however, and you can get it in a spray can, but trying to blend a repair like this without having to respray the doors is a B*tch. You could use a brushing lacquer and an artist's brush if the spots are small...I'm concerned that there might be stain or Toning or both on them however, and if you sand through that, it'll be tough to match. Also, you have to be careful if you wind up recoating whole doors that your finish will match...not come close, but match. It's a tall order even with the correct materials on a 20 year old cabinet.....and everything shows, make no mistake...especially on the doors, which are right in front of your face. Wish I could help more, but I'd suggest that you touch up only, and not get into recoating doors...unless of course it's all of them....hope that helps- post back if need be- regards- Greg

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Greg    Thanks for getting back to me. What I did was call the # on the waterlox can and spoke with a tech who told me that as long as I fine sand and apply thin coats that it would'nt be a problem at all. Then I asked him again if he's sure and he said not a problem! I love the stuff but never used it over a lacquer.I thought that I would freshen up the rest of the doors to match.I don't have spraying equipment .So now I ask my self what's right and wrong. Am I safe listening to the tech?   Thanks LOU

Answer
I think the stuff would dry, and build ok over anything, because it's an oil, but that doesn't mean one SHOULD do it...what about longevity of the finish? 20 year old hard, cured lacquer (quite brittle), and fresh Tung oil based long oil finishes(quite flexible), are very different, and will contract and expand differently, and therefore, the oil finish might craze, or crawl over time and if your cabinets have a catalyzed or conversion type finish, I definitely wouldn't do it. Like I said, it will also look markedly different than the lacquer, so be prepared to do ALL the doors to make them look the same...I would also be wary of how to apply it to eliminate lap marks, or streaks, and it doesn't rub out the same way either...I love Waterlox, but it's a self sealing long oil finish, and really should be used over itself or it's own sealer, and I wouldn't use an oil/Alkyd varnish or a poly or other Urethane over lacquer either......that's my two cents worth, let me know what you decide...and how it comes out!- regards- Greg