Furniture Refinishing Peck's Painting has been refinishing furniture for many years. Over time we have developed a system that can restore almost any piece of wood to its original beauty.

First, I work on removing the existing coating on the piece of furniture by applying a thick coat of heavy duty thick stripper. As soon as the thick stripper starts to bubble up I apply an additional stripper that is thin like water. This stripper is used to help penetrate under the first stripper and keep it wet letting it work for a longer period of time. After approximately 15 minutes or so I will remove some of the bubbled coating with a broad putty knife, if it all comes off with light pressure I continue removing all of the coating. If it does all come off I will apply an additional coat of the thin stripper and let it sit for another 15 minutes. Repeat until the coating comes off very easily. HINT: Let the stripper do the work. This is not the time for elbow grease.

Second, after all the coating is removed use steel wool soaked in lacquer thinner and wash the entire piece. This will leave the piece slightly dirty and will need to be wash with a clean rag soaked in lacquer thinner. This process is an important step for three reasons. 1. It dries the wood out so it can be sanded the next day without gumming up on you. 2. It lightens the old stain up so you can stain the piece after sanding. 3. When you stain the new piece there will be a uniform deep penetration.

Third, wait a day so the wood is plenty dry to sand and stain. Let the stain dry for a few hours and then you can varnish with a high quality polyurethane varnish. I prefer using Pratt & Lambert stain and varnish products, but there are many great products available. On furniture that will be well used such as a dinner or coffee table make sure you put at least 4 coats of varnish on the top surface.