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Mon, Oct 27, 08 at 23:57
It is a shiny, black veneer which I can pick pieces off. Is there anything that can be done to salvage the top? This is a small night table,
Thanks,
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Is it a veneer or is it painted? |
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| I really don't know. My guess is veneer because I can pick pieces of it off. Whatever it is, its very black and shiny. I don't see any wood grain. How could I find out? Jane |
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| Just the way it's flaking makes me think it's paint. Veneer loosens and bubbles and chips, but it doesn't flake like that (with little bits still sticking in a big bare area like you have, or little flakes coming off intact areas). It tends to get chipped and pulled off on edges, drawers, and comes off in 1 piece (even if it's a small chip)with a very definite height difference (since they don't make it actually paper-thin), not little places all over. If the table was always meant to be painted, it could be pretty nondescript wood, no definite grain. Veneer is usually wood-grained, they make it to save money and just put a thin layer of pretty (expensive) wood (often in a pattern) glued to a basic wood. With the damage that extensive, in the middle of the table, you would have to strip everything off and repaint/reveneer (can't patch veneer that bad, in the middle of a piece, if it is veneer, though sometimes they can reveneer chipped edges and blend them in). So try a paint stripper. Then sand, tack, and repaint. |
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| Actually, it's probably a colored lacquer, not what you'd think of as paint (though spray paints are lacquers). I don't think you'd want to spray it again through, so painting and then putting a gloss finish on top would be easier. If it's a fairly small table and you have a steady hand (and mask off the areas you don't want to lacquer), well-ventilated place to work, you can use either a spray lacquer/paint, or brush on a gloss paint and spray or brush on lacquer after the paint is dry. It'll take several thin coats of lacquer to get a deep gloss. You may want to try shellac instead - Bobsmyuncle recommended Zinnser Sealcoat (sold as a sanding sealer) as a good out-of-the-can, readily available product. I haven't used it yet. |
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