Refinishing Salon Table

Blueone

Well-Known Member
SILVER Sponsor
Jan 24, 2007
13,689
Lake Erie, Ohio
Boat Info
2004 420 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins 6CTA 450's
Below is a picture of the same table I have. My oval table top has discolored with a white haze from what looks like sun damage. My question is ...has anyone refinished their table?. If so, can you explain the process you took. It looks like the top coating is epoxy so interested in how you removed it and reapplied it.


Thanks
 

Attachments

  • table.jpg
    table.jpg
    39.5 KB · Views: 980
What you are looking at is not real wood. It's a plastic layer with a photo of wood grain below it. Try www.restorationMarine.Com. you can order a new laminate to glue down on your existing.
 
Ps you can order a sample of grains for best match before you order a larger sheet.
 
What you are looking at is not real wood. It's a plastic layer with a photo of wood grain below it. Try www.restorationMarine.Com. you can order a new laminate to glue down on your existing.

Are you positive? I have looked closely at mine but I thought it was a solid wood table with a high gloss poly or epoxy coating.

If it is laminate it's wrapped clean around the bottom radius.
 
Are you positive? I have looked closely at mine but I thought it was a solid wood table with a high gloss poly or epoxy coating. If it is laminate it's wrapped clean around the bottom radius.

I would be very surprised if it's plastic as well. I plan to bring it home this weekend and take a good look at it.
 
Here is an update. I brought the table home. You can see the before picture (lower pic). The clear coating is a fiberglass resin so no Paint or epoxy remover will work.. I ended up wet sanding it. I started with 220 and worked up to 600 and then compound, polish and wax. It is not perfect yet but you can see it made a significant improvement.
 

Attachments

  • Table Before.JPG
    Table Before.JPG
    82.4 KB · Views: 824
  • Table after.JPG
    Table after.JPG
    64.6 KB · Views: 800
Last edited:
Wow, looks great! Is it solid wood or plywood with layer of marble wood on top? What material is on the bottom of the table? Mine looks just like yours, just a different grain. But it's a laminate with a hard resin film. Like thin plexiglass.

Mark
 
Is it solid wood or plywood with layer of marble wood on top? What material is on the bottom of the table?

The frame is solid wood. I am not sure what the black strip is. The center looks like a veneer. It's not perfect after the sanding. If you look close you can still see a faint haze... but it is definitely a great improvement.

Here is a pic of the back
 

Attachments

  • table btm.jpg
    table btm.jpg
    90.8 KB · Views: 597
Last edited:
Yep, just like mine. Plywood with black veneer on the back and a photo finish on top with a plastic coat over the top. I promise you that.
You did good on the polishing!
Mark
 
Wish I would have seen a thread like this months ago! I had a friend of mine that does wood work to refinish my table as the epoxy had cracked all over the table. (I assume it was left in freezing weather) He went through the process of trying to remove the epoxy and found that it would not come off and then he started sanding down to the wood. He found, as many of you have said here, the outer edges are indeed solid wood, but the interior portion is plywood and the black appeared to just be painted on as it sanded off. He was still able to put a new coat of epoxy on the table, and it turned out very nice. (Just without the black stripe) I will get a picture of it and post it.
Rob
 
I have the same table and mine has three areas with the same hazy look. My boat is currently in winter storage but as soon as I can get to it I am going to try wet sanding and polishing to correct it. Thanks for posting this thread. I thought my table to was ruined but hopefully now I can fix it.
 
SRMark .....There were a few obstacles ... I started with 220 and progressed to 320, 400, 600. I used a 5" random orbital Dewalt palm sander. I sanded each grit wet... (probably not the safest)... I then compounded using a wool pad on a polisher. This was the critical step to get any scratches out. It needs to look perfect at every angle.. preferably in the sun. I spent a lot of time here just compounding. Then I used a Porter-Cable random orbital to polish and wax...

Note... I tried wet sanding by hand with a block at first, it didn't leave the surface flat... that's why I went to an orbital sander. The problem with the orbital was I couldn't find the higher grits with Velcro backs... so I looked for the highest grit 5" disks and used 3M spray adhesive to attach the higher grit sheet ...then trimmed them round .... it worked really well.

It didn't bring it back perfect but it did make a substantial improvement.. Good luck
 
Note... I tried wet sanding by hand with a block at first, it didn't leave the surface flat... that's why I went to an orbital sander. The problem with the orbital was I couldn't find the higher grits with Velcro backs... so I looked for the highest grit 5" disks and used 3M spray adhesive to attach the higher grit sheet ...then trimmed them round .... it worked really well.

Good idea to use the 3M spray adhesive. I have two variation of that 3M adhesive. One is a "slow set" that allows you to reposition whatever it is you're gluing. The other is a "fast set" that is just that--you spray it and when you put the glued surface down you'd better have it positioned correctly. There's really not much of a chance to peel it off and reapply it.
 
Thanks for the details. I will follow your process and try to duplicate the results. Fortunately mine isn't as bad but it is noticeable. I don't know if the previous owner put the table out in the sun or not but I keep it in the salon.
 
I wanted to give an update on this fix. After 7months the table is right back to it's original cloudy condition, maybe a bit worse. It was not exposed to the sun so I cant explain it.

I am going to have a furniture refinisher take a look at it. If I find a permanent fix I will let you know
 
As far as refinishing and with what material, I looked around for a while and came across the guys from East Coast Resin. It is a clear epoxy resin that is supposed to be UV resistant, no odor, and pretty durable. I just did a new cockpit table in it and since it's new can't comment on the UV resistance but the finish is great and was very easy to work with. As promised the epoxy had zero smell. If you go with another epoxy they might be worth a look. I got it on Amazon

View attachment 49693
 
The cloudiness is typically due to moisture in the substrate or humidity during the application process. Try sanding it down again and applying a coat of UV resistant epoxy over top.
 
I wanted to give an update on this fix. After 7months the table is right back to it's original cloudy condition, maybe a bit worse. It was not exposed to the sun so I cant explain it.

I am going to have a furniture refinisher take a look at it. If I find a permanent fix I will let you know
What kind of cloth/cleaner are you using? It's possible a chemical or abrasive component in one or the other is etching the finish, even if you can't see distinct scratch/swirl marks. If you can identify what the finish is, you can find an appropriate cleaning method to reduce or eliminate the need for mechanical polishing. If you do go the route of professional refinishing, ask what s/he recommends for maintenance to avoid a repeat.
 
I wanted to give an update on this fix. After 7months the table is right back to it's original cloudy condition, maybe a bit worse. It was not exposed to the sun so I cant explain it.

I am going to have a furniture refinisher take a look at it. If I find a permanent fix I will let you know

Raising this thread from the dead.....

Blueone, did you ever have someone look at the table and find a way to repair it?
 
Blueone, did you ever have someone look at the table and find a way to repair it?
Bart... I took it to two pretty big furniture re-finishers and they both wouldn't touch it ....One said it was a fiberglass resin that he couldn't remove. I heard there was a guy in Florida that refinishes them but before I researched that, a friend of mine said he would duplicate it in his home shop. he did a really nice job but said he would never do it again.

Here is a pic of the new table
IMG_0478.JPG

IMG_0481.JPG
 
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
112,946
Messages
1,422,764
Members
60,929
Latest member
Henchman
Back
Top