The Pandemic Has Prompted ‘Stay-at-Home’ Projects
By Bill Primavera
When I was younger and forced by lack of money to be a do-it-yourselfer around the house and in the garden, I dreamed of the day when I could employ others to maintain and upgrade everything that needed to be done.
That day came a long time ago, and I considered myself lucky that I had more time available to pursue other dreams.
But confined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, isolated and on the verge of a depressed jag, I’ve been itching to find a handyman project to do. That would have been very easy in my last home, an 18th century farmhouse that came with a long list of projects just to keep it functioning.
But now I live at Trump Park in Yorktown where everything is shiny new, in great working condition and serviced by a great staff whenever I need something done, from unclogging a drain to changing a lightbulb.
Since the onset of the pandemic, I was itching for something to do around the house. More than just itching. Starving.
As it happens, when we moved, I brought with us a small Shaker-like pine night table that was stored in our attic years ago and forgotten. Its surface was badly worn and needed to be refinished. A perfect pandemic project, I thought.
It had been more than 30 years since I had refinished furniture. In those days, I was a purist, insisting on the method of refinishing known as French Polish, where the old surface would be stripped paint remover.
After being sanded, the surface grain would be “filled” and sanded again with fine sandpaper to make it perfectly smooth. Then, it would be coated with several coats of shellac or varnish that required a long time to dry, again being sanded with fine sandpaper between each coat to remove imperfections and to create a better bond for the next coat. After three coats, I would finish the surface with two layers of Butcher’s Wax, buffed to perfection.
The process took forever to accomplish because of the drying time between each coat and the sanding required to remove the imperfections caused by the brush and dust.
Shellac can take up to 36 hours to dry and, if you do the math, a project of refinishing would take forever. Even though the pandemic has given us all a lot more time to attend to forgotten chores, who wants to spend weeks on a simple job like refinishing a tabletop.
With the method outlined above, a small tabletop could take me a couple of weeks of part-time effort to accomplish. My interest span doesn’t last that long in my more senior years, so my first decision was to think about whether I wanted to make that leap from shellac or varnish finish to polyurethane for a surface.
Let me explain the difference. Polyurethane is a thermoplastic that combines the best features of plastic and rubber. It has gained popularity due to its ability to form a thicker and stronger film than coatings like varnish and shellac. It requires less coats, time and effort. Oil-based polyurethane typically dries in 24 hours, while water-based only takes six or less. I’ll take the water-based, thank you.
First, I gathered the required materials from my storeroom: a pint of paint remover; a half-pint of Minwax Wood Finish (in Colonial Maple); a half-pint of water-based, fast-drying polyurethane; two 3M Sandblaster sandpaper blocks, one medium grade and one fine; a cheap two-inch brush to apply the stripper; and a good one-and-a-half- inch brush to apply the polyurethane. I was prepared as a weekend project warrior.
In my open foyer area, I spread an old sheet on the floor, and with my cheap brush, covered the tabletop, legs and drawer front with the stripper, let it do its thing for just 15 minutes, then wiped it off with old rags. After sanding with first the medium grade sandpaper, then the smooth, I stained the wood with Minwax, and let it dry for an hour.
Then I simply applied the polyurethane. After less than four hours, it was completely dry. With the fine sandpaper, I rubbed down the imperfections, which did a pretty good job on all the flat surfaces. For the turns on the legs, I used fine steel wool.
The end product looked so good that I thought I could be ready for the finishing wax coat, but I realized that I had forgotten to buy Butcher’s Wax.
My favorite secret weapon around the house for repairing scratches is also a wonderful final refinishing coat, too. That is Kiwi Shoe Polish! I lathered on brown wax in two coats, and the results were deep and luxurious.
Now I have a very sweet, shiny end table with an all but impervious surface. But more than that, I’ve enjoyed a way to have the pandemic hours pass more productively.
While both a writer and publicist, Bill Primavera is also a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest running public relations agency in Westchester (www.PrimaveraPR.com), specializing in lifestyles, real estate and development. To engage the services of The Home Guru and his team to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
