Expert: Jamie Yocono - 8/28/2006

Question
Thank you, Jamie, for the response.  Sorry for the confusion -- it is wood, pin oak, but they did put a laminated top over the wood surface on the table.  It started to come off so the seller had it refinished for me and again put on this plastic coating instead of just oiling or polyethylene as I would have preferred but didn't think to mention.  So, it is this plastic stuff which is coming off and it still could be a pretty table if I didn't have to look at all these chips.  I still want to know if I can somehow get this coating off.  Thanks again! -------------------------

Followup To

Question -
I have a laminated oak dining room table.  The laminate top has began to chip and large pieces have chipped off.  The top is called pin oak and I have chairs plus a china cabinet in the set.  All I want to do is remove this laminate so I can enjoy the table once again without a tablecloth~  What do you suggest to remove the laminate?  Thank you for any help you can give me.  Marge at jjmh@charter.net

Answer -
Hi Marge,

I am a little confused by your question, especially the part where you mention laminate. I am not sure if you mean veneer, which is a thin layer of wood, or if you mean plastic laminate. If it's chipping off as you describe, then I think you mean veneer, but are calling it laminate! Did that make any sense?

OK, I am going to assume that you mean veneer, and the reason I am going to assume that is because you referred to it as Pin oak, and generally you wouldn't call it that unless it was wood. With that in mind, what you're asking about is taking off the entire layer that's chipping, so that you can use your table once again.

My simple answer is that it's a bad idea.

Here's why- I'll need to give you a little background in wood and veneer, so that you can fully understand this. When something is veneered, the proper way to do it is to veneer both sides of the piece. So if your table has a top layer of veneer, then it should also have a bottom layer. The technical reason for this is because of seasonal changes in wood, where it absorbs moisture from the air in summer time, and it loses moisture when it's dry out, like winter time.  If you only veneered one side of a table top, it would absorb moisture unevenly and the top would cup and warp.

So it you're planning on removing all the veneer on the top, you'll have to remove it from the bottom, as well. That's the first reason not to do it, it's going to probably be difficult and require a lot of sanding to get all the adhesive off. And you MUST remove all that adhesive, or it won't look good when you apply a new finish to it.

The second reason to not take off both sides of veneer is because most manufacturers use a lesser grade of wood when making the interior panel of solid wood. The wood will often have knots, or ugly grain, or sapwood, or whatever. If it was nice wood, they wouldn't have topped it with veneer. So when you remove that veneer, you're liable to find something really unattractive. In fact, I would bet on it.

You have a couple of options- one is to try and repair the chipping, and the other is to remove it, but recover it with veneer again.  Repair might be tough, if you've lost some of the pieces. But I've seen some furniture refinishers do amazing jobs at patching veneer. So you might consider that.

As far as replacing it- there are some places that sell sheets of peel and stick sheets of wood veneer, so that might be an easy solution for you. But it's somewhat expensive. Try looking at this website: www.certainlywood.com, I think I bought a few sheets of peel and stick veneer from them years ago.  Also- trying searching on Google for this: peel and stick wood veneer. You'll get 60,000 choices of websites on veneer. If you're in (or near) a decent sized city, you probably can buy it locally.

OK, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com


Answer
Marge,

If the top is plastic, you need to ascertain if it's a plastic laminate, or if it's a thick plastic finish. From the sound of your description, it's a thick plastic finish.

What I would suggest is stripping it off, then refinishing it with oil or polyurethane. Oil would be best, as you can actually sand the oil when applying it, so if you've missed any small spot when removing the plastic, you can sand the area with oil.

Stripping is nasty stuff, but let me give you a few tips. I hope they will help you out.

The agent that actually works to strip the finish is heavy, someone told me a long time ago. When you go to purchase the stripper, there will be a few choices, so how do you decide? Pick up the can and feel it's weight. The heaviest can will have the most concentration of that stripping agent. I've always followed that general rule and it seems like it works.

Next- let the stripper work for you. Apply it, let it sit and dissolve, and then scrape it gently with a putty knife. Be careful not to gouge the wood with the corner of the putty knife. If the plastic finish is especially thick, you may have to do this a few times. Then, on your last coat, take it off with either steel wool, or a 3M Scotchbright pad. You'll probably have to do a little scrubbing here.

If the finish is on both sides of the table top, you really should remove it on both sides. Sorry to tell you that, but that's the proper way to do it. :(

Once it's all gone, sand with a fine paper, like 150 or 180 grit. And then oil or apply polyurethane. As I said- the oil would be better, because you will be able to fix any areas that you missed when stripping the finish. And you won't need a dust free environment. Just make sure once you oil it, you wipe all the residue off. Oak will bleed, so you'll see some shiny dots pop up. Keep wiping those, as long as they bleed. If they end up drying, you can scrap off the dots with your fingernail.

I apply oil with 220 wet or dry sandpaper. It makes a slurry of oil and sawdust, and fills any small voids. And it makes the wood feel SO soft. It's another secret trick of mine.

That should do it, sorry for the misunderstanding. For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would put that thick plastic finish on wood. It ruins everything!

Good luck, happy stripping!

Jamie