I refinished a 60 year old kitchen last month and the before and after on the face frames was shocking

The client's original cabinets were solid maple but had this dark, yellowed varnish from the 1960s. I spent a full weekend just stripping and sanding the face frames on the lowers. Once I got down to the bare wood and put on a clear satin poly, the grain popped like crazy. The difference was night and day. Took about 3 coats and the whole process changed my opinion on older cabinets versus the MDF stuff we see now. Has anyone else had luck bringing old solid wood back to life, or do you usually just recommend replacing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_john1d ago

You're out of your mind if you think all that work is worth it for some old maple cabinets. Most of the time, those 1960s face frames are warped, have cracks in the joints, and the wood has dried out so bad it'll never look right again. Stripping and sanding is a messy, toxic nightmare that takes forever and you might end up with a blotchy finish anyway. For the price of your time and materials, you could have just ordered new MDF doors and had a cleaner, more uniform look that won't yellow again in five years. People get too sentimental about old wood, but a lot of it just isn't built as square as modern stuff.

davis.linda1d ago

Yeah, "not built as square as modern stuff" is a fair point, kinda changed my mind honestly.