I recently made an Armoire for a client who said she would stain it and finish it herself. I was a nice looking piece and I offered to finish it for her but she insisted. Since I had to build another set of cabinets for her son and was cramped for time i let her do it. She said she was going to use the stain/poly mix and since I had never used it before I had no suggestions other than using colored putty for the holes.
The day I went to install her sons cabinets I peeked in the daughters room to see how the staining was going and I was floored! It looked TERRIBLE. Bad lap marks was the thing that really stood out the most. She called me tha night to thank me for her sons cabinets and said she hoped I had not seen the armoire. ( Of course I denied it). Now she wants my help fixing it. Other than refinishing it and painting it, is there any solutions to her problems. I had mentioned to her that she could add bird-pecking and distressing to it if she thinks it would work.
Thanks for any advice
Replies
Her problem was not caused by you. You delivered what the customer wanted. Find out what she wants it to look like when redone. That may involve stripping, resanding, picking out old finish out of corners, bleaching, time to move it back and forth from your shop and maybe more before staining and finish coating. Give her an estimate which includes all of these possibilities. If she does not like it, you could provide some names of local refinishing shops. The first priority is to get your money for what for put into the job, just as if it were a new job. Refinishing easily can take more time and skill that starting new, which most people don't know (and are shocked that what you did costs more than $20).
Her problem was not caused by you
This is an excellent answer. Refinishing is a whole 'nother thing!!!
And I know everyone has seen the "labor rates"--it goes up precipitously if "I repair your repairs."Gretchen
"Refinishing easily can take more time and skill that (than) starting new," and it's not nearly as much fun (as finishing a new piece). It's a grind, fer sure.
I vote for cutawooda for having the Best Discussion Title so far this year. I absolutely had to click on "Unintentional Distressing"! LOL.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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