I really try to give the builders the benefit of the doubt whenever possible, but to be honest, the stain on these cabinets…. (Attempting restraint.) It could definitely be better. The streaks and visible brush strokes with stain absolutely should not be there–the only justification that I could think of would be if they were somehow going for a “distressed” look.

you could try oxalic acid which restores the original natural colour of wood and takes out water staining.
a mild amount of Oxalic acid is in barkeepers friend, which i’ve used on small projects

I used Citristrip on a pine wood closet doors so that I could re-stain the a different color. However, after scrapping the stripper with a meal scrapper the pine turned black. Can the original color be restored? I’m afraid I will make it worse with sanding or bleaching.

See the tips in this article: https://www.wood-database.com/finishing-exotic-tropical-hardwoods/

I have an old G Plan dining table. In teak I think?! I have sanded down a few times now as it was very dark initially. Last year when sanding and then applying a varnish it dried tacky. I have finally gotten back round to sanding down again. What should I apply to the top as I’m guessing I need something on there? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I’d guessing the table is either birch or maple, and the color difference is due to the patina that developed on the rest of the table as it was continually exposed to light, while the leaves were protected and didn’t develop a patina.

Depending on if the wood is solid or veneer, you might be able to get things to match. Only if it is solid wood, you could try sanding through the top layer of patina (or see how long it might take to do so) until you get to fresh wood.

Looks like walnut burl, and yes, that looks like checking to me, possibly caused if the wood has been exposed to extremely hot/dry conditions. A lot is a matter of preference, but for most woodworkers, burl figure in particular is more prone to checking and so there’s a lot more leeway given in what is considered acceptable. Personally, I don’t see any problem with this wood. You could just fill the voids with a pore filler and refinish it as usual.

Sounds like I should have done more reading beforehand…

I didn’t know about using a solvent to clean the wood before staining but it makes sense that sanding and a tack cloth wouldn’t get rid of residue left behind in the wood fibers. I’ll definitely remember this for the next time.

Thank you for getting back to me!

Yeah, you could try that. That would be an example of an “all” solution for veneer. Just a few things to keep in mind though. 1) It’s a lot of work. 2) Be mindful that this will change the thickness of the doors, especially in the areas where the door meets the frame near the hinges, which may cause issues. 3) It appears to be an exterior surface, so you’d have to be sure that your veneer gluing is rock solid to avoid having any parts peel up or come loose when exposed to the elements long term. But not trying to rain on anyone’s parade; if you’ve got the patience and the desire, it’s worth a shot. But my vote would still be for painting the doors, or just embracing the imperfections.

Hard to say for sure, but it doesn’t look like a sanding issue. To me it looks more like an issue with compatibility and/or residue. More than likely it was either 1) some residual contaminant left in parts of the wood that was not removed with solvent prior to applying stain (tack cloth removes sawdust and dirt, but not chemicals or residues actually in the wood fibers like a solvent wipe can), or 2) a problem between the water based top coat and the oil-based stain underneath. If not wiped down, there’s a chance that the oil based stain could’ve left residue that would interfere with the topcoat.

Okay. That makes sense. But would it be possible to instead of trying to fix the problem spot, add veneer strips around each door with the windows. Meaning to cover the full exterior doors with veneer strips?

I just finished my first restore project. It was a record player that belonged to my wife’s grandpa.

After stripping the old finish, sanding down the wood veneer and wiping it down with a tack cloth, I stained with an oil based stain, waited 2 days then finished with 4 coats of water based Varathane Diamond Wood finish.

After staining, the project looked outstanding but after the finish was done I could see blotches in a few places. Can you tell what caused them? Did I sand too far through the veneer? Or something else?

Any way to fix these spots? Or do I just need to accept it for what it is (it’s still much better than what it started out as).

Thanks!

The issue is that with veneer, it’s usually all or nothing. Sometimes you can do a small patch and basically inlay it in a problem spot, but what you’re describing is veneering over only a section. But then there is the issue of what to do at the transition from the veneer layer to the original substrate. There will be a noticeable step down.

Would it be possible to glue Veneer strips then stain?

There’s nothing that’s very practical for your situation that I know of, short of just embracing the imperfections. Otherwise it might be a good candidate for painting to mask the underlying stuff.

Thanks for the response! Is there a way to fix this or add a top layer of veneer or stain to hide the seems a bit? It was inevitable to sand down to the base on some parts of the door do to weathering and dog scratches.