Expert: Eileen Cronk - 3/10/2009

Question
Hi Eileen.  My question is about my cherry kitchen cabinets.  The kitchen was done by the previous owner in two stages.  The upper cabinets are different from the lower cabinets.  The upper are deeper, redder with nice grain.  The lower are more orange in appearance without much grain.  I wonder if they are even the same species wood.  Although solid construction, the finish is poor.  The surfaces are rough.  There is also fading along the floor where water from mopping has affected the color.  It is disappointing but I feel like I can do something to improve them.  I'm hoping you can advise me on what I should do.  Any information is appreciated.  Thanks.

Answer
Nice to hear from you.
It sounds like the owner made these cabinets himself..correct.
If this is in fact real cherry and it was done in stages (top first), then I can tell you what has happened is the top cabinets have aged. Cherry does this and in fact its the beauty of the wood in my opinion.
My first thought was perhaps he used maple on the bottom but if you really think about that, its hard to imagine anyone going to all that work and expense and use different wood.
So...you asked my advice LOL
My advice would be to leave the cabinets as is and repair the finish.
You say the surfaces are rough which tells me they need sanding and another coat of finish applied. It also tells me that this is a home done finish.
I would use 220 sandpaper. This will remove all the roughness.
Then use a tack cloth to make sure you have all the particles removed (the previous painter goofed LOL).
Then your top coat of poly.
The cabinets should only need one coat.
You should remove the handles and knobs but leave the doors in place.
The drawers can be removed if your up to emptying them. In that way they can be set upright and the poly will flow and cover better.
Now heres the crunch..isn't there always one LOL
I have no idea if the painter used water based poly or oil based poly. Its my experience that water based poly tends to leave tiny bubbles that dry in the finish. Is there any chance that the roughness is tiny bubbles?
Its also my experience that oil based poly has a tendancy to yellow over time (as your bottom cabinets have).
So...you see the position you are in. Which do you have?
The board at the bottom of the cabinets obviously did not have enough finish applied to protect it from moisture so it will need sanding.
To conclude, if these were my cupboards I would make sure the sanding was done really well and apply Minwax oil based poly in a satin sheen.
Good Luck and great question
Regards
Eileen