Expert: Eileen Cronk - 9/11/2009

Question
I'm trying to re-stain a bathroom vanity. I had to sand the base and door frames down to bare wood in order to remove damage.I lightly sanded the veneer door fronts.  The "real" wood parts turned out very nice, I used Minwax dark cherry water base with poly (one step). I have applied three coats, sanding with 000 steel wool in between coats. My problem is that the door fronts  have not responded so well. Although I have sanded between coats, the results get more streaked with each coat. Should I resand intensly and start over with the door fronts? Thanks:)

Answer
Hi Judy
Nice to hear from you.
Oh what a shame the doors did not come out like the rest.
Only one solution now.
Get a can of paint stripper and remove everything down to bare wood.
Do not sand anymore.
Once the wood is bare, the stain should be fine but actually use stain instead of the all in one product you used.
Minwax makes a cherry oil based stain which you can apply a waterbased poly over.
You only need the tiny can of stain as it goes a heck of a long way.
Good Luck.
Regards
Eileen