# How to Restain Bathroom Vanity



## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

I want to change the color of my vanity from a golden oak color to something much darker, but I've never attempted something like this before. I've done a lot of googling but I'm still not sure. What does it mean to strip the finish? Is this just a chemical treatment and then you still sand it down before restaining? Would you pull the vanity out of the bathroom to do this work or would you leave it in place? Any other advice or ideas?

Thanks.


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## cagenuts (May 8, 2010)

I was about to say "That's easy, just stop looking in the mirror" but then I realised I had slightly misread the subject line.

I would certainly pull it out before trying any staining. Essentially you need to remove any glossy topcoat/sealer before applying any additional stain. The problem you have is that you don't have a test piece to judge the final result. Maybe check and see if there is a bit of wood that is hidden which you could use to test the finish.

I don't think it's that complicated.

Good luck.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey, Kevin; before you get too deeply into this project please do two things
1) if there's a Mohawk Finishing outlet near you, take a door in and have a chat with the staff. This is precisely what they specialize in!
Lacquer Aerosols, Waterborne Stains, Leather Cleaners & More - Mohawk Finishing

2) check out the price of a new vanity. If you're going to all the trouble of refinishing, you might as well just replace it...they aren't that expensive.
I'm doing two of them as we speak, both will be done in situ. Well masked off, and a drop cloth, but remove the door and hardware first!
Cheers,
-Dan


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## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

cagenuts said:


> I was about to say "That's easy, just stop looking in the mirror" but then I realised I had slightly misread the subject line.
> 
> I would certainly pull it out before trying any staining. Essentially you need to remove any glossy topcoat/sealer before applying any additional stain. The problem you have is that you don't have a test piece to judge the final result. Maybe check and see if there is a bit of wood that is hidden which you could use to test the finish.
> 
> ...


Would you remove the topcoat by just sanding? Or is there a smarter way to do it?


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## cagenuts (May 8, 2010)

You _could_ do it with chemicals but sanding gives you more control. I think there must be a point at which building a new case makes more sense.


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## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

cagenuts said:


> You _could_ do it with chemicals but sanding gives you more control. I think there must be a point at which building a new case makes more sense.


I was actually starting to lean towards building a new one. I think it could be fun. The only problem is that I have no experience building a vanity/cabinet. This probably wouldn't be a bad time to start learning since it's a very small vanity, only 24" wide. Can you recommend any good website tutorials for the basics of making cabinets?


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## cagenuts (May 8, 2010)

I would head over to the various woodworking related magazine sites and go from them.


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## Spo (Apr 6, 2010)

Try shopnotes.com


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

kawisser said:


> I want to change the color of my vanity from a golden oak color to something much darker, but I've never attempted something like this before. I've done a lot of googling but I'm still not sure. What does it mean to strip the finish? Is this just a chemical treatment and then you still sand it down before restaining? Would you pull the vanity out of the bathroom to do this work or would you leave it in place? Any other advice or ideas?
> 
> Thanks.


This is just one technique that I use.... Tailored instructions to your project.

Disconnect the plumbing. Pull the vanity. Take outside the house. It's going to get a bit messy...

Paint on stripper. I use BIX Varnish and Stain Stripper. I pour from the gallon can into a mason jar and use the brush from there. It will bubble up the finish and takes the stain out. Make sure you wear gloves!!! After it sets, you'll have to scrape the mess off. Seal up the mason jar -- do not pour back into the can or it will contaminate it.

Still wearing gloves... After scraping, mix up some TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) with water and wash the vanity down with it. It comes in a box and will look like laundry soap. This product is strong. It's original use was for cleaning siding and decks. Scrub. This will neutralize the stripper and take out more of the old stain.

If dark wood or you're going to stain dark, rinse with a water vinegar mix. If light wood or you're going to stain light, rinse with a water bleach mix.

Let dry. Then lightly sand. Go over with steel wool. (Will bring out the grain.)

Rub down with a wood conditioner. I use Benite. This will seal the wood and stain will color more evenly. Stain and apply coats of finish. (Appropriate drying times between.) When you get your stain and finish, look at the drying times. Some of each dry in 20 minutes.

Let dry.

Remount vanity and connect plumbing. Check for leaks.

That's a lot cheaper that the $300 I charged for the last custom maple/stainless vanity I built. Besides, you like that one... You just want it a different color, right? Some people would just paint it in place. (cringe!!!) Personally, I think it's a travesty to cover beautiful wood grain with paint. 




kawisser said:


> I was actually starting to lean towards building a new one. I think it could be fun. The only problem is that I have no experience building a vanity/cabinet. This probably wouldn't be a bad time to start learning since it's a very small vanity, only 24" wide. Can you recommend any good website tutorials for the basics of making cabinets?


And it's a lot less work and money to refinish than to build another that you'll need to finish... 

Example-
If you did go that way, look at yours. You could just reface yours. That means you build the front, doors and drawer fronts // reusing the box. The doors and drawer fronts don't need to be the same style as you have. You might not have the tooling to recreate that. My door bit sets alone are over $150. Then there's drawer pull bits, etc. The face's tools are a "good" table saw, miter saw and pocket screw jig, maybe a router or router table if there is rabbet joint to the box. If you want to built a box, look at what you have and get the measurements of the pieces from that. The tooling might be a table saw, dado or router, etc. 

Adds up fast eh?


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## del schisler (Feb 2, 2006)

lowe's have one vanity with top for $149.00 some higher price, I my self i wouldn't tackel that project, one is because i belive you said it was oak?? If so you will not be able to get all the finish out of oak , than stain will not go on even and wouldn't look that good. I used to refinish lot's of item's yrs ago and the time and the results you get wouldn't be what i want. Go buy one darker and install and you are done?? My 2 cents


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## karenbill (Nov 14, 2012)

Try the new gel stain in a darker color. One of my clients did this on her cabinets and did not have to varnish them after doing so. They look beautiful! Her cabinets were golden oak, and now are a beautiful rich dark cherry. She replaced the old porcelain knobs with more trendy brushed nickel and totally updated the room.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Kevin, as some others have stated, I would either buy a new one (they aren't very expensive) or make one. I made mines, even though I probably could have bought one for not much more, if not less. But that would have taken all the fun out of it and the challenge. As this was my first cabinet attempt. Since then, and because of it's turn out, my wife has let me build our kitchen cabinets as well. 

Here's my first attempt at anything, more then a shelf unit. One pic before the finish ,one after and one after installed. I used the Kreg pocket whole jig. So no fancy lock joints. Although I have a small contractors table saw, I use a good straight edge and a circular saw with a good blade to cut from my full sheet of cabinet grade ply.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Wow, didn't realize how old this post originally was!


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## jannereeves (Dec 29, 2012)

You can easily do it yourself, just disassemble the cabinetry and clean them and lightly sand with medium grit sanding wedge to remove any debris. Then Paint with two coats of either oil based paint in semi-gloss or latex paint specialty designed for bathrooms. Use a paint conditioner and high quality brush to avoid brush strokes. Now reassemble them.


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