I just finished a job that included three bathroom vanities in Beech with a pre-cat lacquer finish. While cleaning the tile floors, the tile guys slopped some of the cleaner onto the toe kick panels and left some kind of stained/bleached out marks. I was able to remove and refinish one of them and it came out fine, but a second one had to be replaced.
Adding to the fun, the HO had a small flood in the laundry room and the soapy water ran across the hall and wet another toe kick panel in a hall cabinet. A little brush work with a thinned lacquer saved that one.
While talking to the HO yesterday, he told me that they clean their tile bathroom floors with lots of water and their hardwood floors with some kind of cleaner. He wanted to know if something could be brushed onto the lacquer which would be “impervious” to water and/or cleaners. I told him that I knew of no finish that would be impervious, but I would look into something that could go over the lacquer and increase it’s resistance to water, etc.
I’ve looked into conversion varnish, but I’m not convinced that it’s the best solution. Suggestions are welcome.
Replies
Hi Dave , That's a tough one , what's going around the rest of the room ?
Maybe a different material face for the toe like tile or granite or
rubber cove base or a base shoe mold ?
Probably a good idea to make sure they know if they slop cleaning liquids on the doors and they spot who is wrong ?
no offense but the client sounds sloppy or inconsiderate
good luck dusty
Dusty -
They aren't sloppy or inconsiderate, but they are pretty naive. They're young (twenty-somethings) with great jobs, plenty of disposable income, and in their first house. He was really surprised when I told him that "there just ain't no such thing as an impervious wood finish". - lol
When the job started, they fell in love with the finish samples I made, and that's how we went to pre-cat lacquer. We all have a problem with the tile guy not covering the woodwork, and I've advised them to keep the $150 I charged them to do the rework out of his final payment. We'll see. - lol
They and their friends really like the look of the cabinets (I've already gotten another job thru this one), so going to tile or vinyl over the toe kick panels probably isn't an option.
I'm planning on talking to a finish guy I know (and use for the trickier work) and we'll see what he thinks.
P.S. The rest of the walls have either tile base or painted wood. Yeah, I expect that the wood will start looking bad fairly soon, too.
Edited 7/25/2008 12:41 pm by Dave45
To keep it a wood finish I would think what you use on hardwood floors will do.
"Yeah, I expect that the wood will start looking bad fairly soon, too."
Dave,
That's perfect: not only a job well done which makes the clients happy, but more work in the future. Every year or so you can give them a call to refinish their cabinets. Lacquer is an easy finish to repair too. If you like that kind of work, you've got it made.
Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I suppose that it could work out that way, but I hope not. I like to design, build, install, get paid, and go on to the next job. With this customer, I would much prefer to help them find a solution to their concern and wait for them to decide that they really should do the kitchen. (They're about 50% there, already. - lol)
From what I've learned since posting this question, the best "solution" will be a bit of education. He had the idea that wood finishes could be impervious rather than resistant. The light brightened somewhat when I pointed out how much time and money yacht owners put into keeping their teak and mahogany looking so fine. - lol
>>With this customer, I would much prefer to help them find a solution to their concern.......I've been in the remodeling business for a while now, commonly working on jobs that included other subs.The solution that your clients need is to withold the tile guy's entire payment -- not just a hundred or so -- until the tile guy starts calling around, talking to cabinet shops about how to repair HIS screwup.When HE has to find the solution, and HE has to pay for the solution, he'll probably stop making those kinds of mistakes. Or, he'll just get out of the business.If the tile guy drops the ball and tries to walk away, witholding $150 will seem insignificant. Witholding his entire payment might be productive. Or, as an alternative, your clients could just fire him. That would be effective too.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
It's a little late for that one. The tile guy works for the GC and they may have paid him off already.
My post was intended to find out if there was anything that could be applied (preferably brushed) over the pre-cat lacquer and improve it's moisture resistance without changing the color, or having a bad reaction with it.
So far, nobody (including my finish guy) has had any suggestions beyond telling the customer to minimize the amount of water they use when mopping the floors, and that moisture is the enemy of any and all finishes. Moisture resistant is fairly easy, but moisture proof ain't possible.
As I said earlier, this customer is pretty naive. When I went over to get the final measurements for the laundry room cabs, I thought I had walked into a rain forest in mid summer. The dryer was running and you could actually see a slight sheen of moisture on the walls. When I asked the HO if his vent line was connected and clear, he said that he wasn't sure. When I checked, I found that the dryer hose was only partially on the vent connection and told him what he needed to do and what parts to get. When I went back to install the laundry room cabs, I helped him get it hooked up correctly and he was amazed to find out that all that hot, moist, air could actually be removed. - lol
Dave,
re: conversion varnish being the best solution - depends on your definition of "best".
The only thing more durable than the pre-cat are: (1) varnish - such as Behlen's rock hard table top varnish, (2) conversion varnish, and (3) epoxy - in that order.
Lee
Lee & Dusty -
The kind of "stuff" to use for an additional coat is what has me stumped. I want something that will;
add some additional protection (if possible),
not interfere with the pre-cat that's already there,
and (ideally) be something that the HO could do himself.
He's a nice guy who really got into this project. During my trips to install the cabs, he was a fountain of questions about how things are done, tools to get, etc. I had him using my portable table saw a few times and he got pretty good with it. If I can come up with a solution, he will actually do the work.
I've quit using Pre-Cat in favor of Post-Dog.
It took a minute, but I got it, Boss. Cute.
Thanks for the chuckle. I'm in the midst of some tricky cutting for drawer pieces and needed to give my poor, old, and feeble mind (alleged mind, that is) a break. - lol
Dave45
E-mail this guy and I bet he can give you a pretty good answer.
[email protected]
He knows all the tricks with finishing. Super good guy to go along with it. Tell him Bop-bop sent you.
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