Staining lighter to darker cabinets

Godfueledbc · 01-21-2013, 02:35 PM

Newbie here (both in forums and in home ownership)..thanks in advance for any help and patience!

So we just bought a house and I have "some" DIY skills and decided to jump head first into refinishing (sanding and restaining) the kitchen cabinets etc. We are going from a very light stain to a very dark stain.

My question is pertaining to how much I need to sand...I am willing to put in the work, but don't want to waste my time either if it's not needed. Basically I have sanded the doors and gotten much of the gloss finish off, but the light stain (kind of a white-wash color) is very stubborn to sand out. The problem is that when I have test-applied some stain, you can tell the difference in the areas where I was able to get down to the bare wood and the areas we couldn't get the stain off. It's not real glossy but you can definitely see a difference and it does have kind of a satin sheen where the old stain wasn't off...and the color looks the same with the obvious difference in the way it reflects. But.. that is before applying polyurethane.

I have also tried a chemical stripper to the doors, but it didn't really remove the stain either.

I am applying a matte poly over the stain afterward. I have already done the cabinet boxes and they look great. But, those doors are kicking my butt. So...assuming I get the poly (or whatever is sealing it) sanded off...will the new poly smooth everything out (as far as the gloss/matte) once I apply it at the end?? Or do I need to just get to the grind and put the work in to get everything down to the bare wood?

Thanks again in advance for any advice!

Godfueledbc · 01-21-2013, 03:48 PM

I copied this thread over to Kitchen and Bath Remodeling...couldn't see where to delete it afterward...monitors are welcome to delete this one in the Paint section.

cdaniels · 01-21-2013, 04:41 PM

All you can do at this point is keep sanding.Sanding down to the raw wood is really the only way to make all the stain look uniform.It's a lot of work (an awful lot) and if you had not gone this far with it there would be other options such as a tinted poly or gel stain.

Godfueledbc · 01-21-2013, 04:45 PM

Bummer. I was afraid of that. Thanks.