DIY veneer furniture repair

In detail: do-it-yourself repair of veneered furniture from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Damage to furniture, while annoying, is often easy to repair. Consider only that veneer on old furniture is different from veneer produced today.

Veneer or wood, matching the texture and species of the starting material
Varnish
Steel sponge
Sandpaper
Shellac putty stick
Beeswax
Bone or skin glue

Tools

Scalpel or blade knife
Veneer saw
Cycle
Chisel
Steel ruler
Soldering iron
Iron
Plane
Screwdriver
Nail polish brush

If it becomes necessary to renew the veneered surface, then first of all it is necessary to establish what material the substrate is from. In modern furniture, it is usually plywood or chipboard. Their machine-sanded surface is specially designed for veneering.

However, a solid wood product can also be faced with veneer. Usually it is "ordinary", cheap wood, but veneer, on the contrary, is made of valuable wood and serves as a kind of camouflage, since it gives the product a solid, noble look.

The first factory-made mass-produced veneers appeared about 50 years ago. Older furniture is a combination of expensive and cheap woods.

Regardless of the type of substrate, our restoration work only applies to the top layer of noble wood, only a few millimeters thick.

Determine the nature of the damage to the veneer
Prepare material
Clean up the damaged area, smooth out cracks in the wood
Buy suitable veneer or wood from a specialty store
If the repair is of a local nature, then cover the surface of the furniture so as not to damage other areas. Take care of good lighting.
Make patches
Seal scratches with putty
Drive into the slits of the slats

Video (click to play).

Hot glue under the swollen veneer is heated with an iron, after which the veneer is pressed with a clamp.

Thoroughly clean the area under the swollen veneer from old glue and inject fresh glue with a syringe. Moisten the veneer and cut crosswise if necessary.

Usually, the incorrect positioning of the sheets leads to swelling of the veneer. then, after gluing, small wavy bulges form - this means that the material was too dry. It is necessary to detect and eliminate all swellings in time, otherwise the appearance of cracks and cracks cannot be avoided.

Bloating on old furniture may be corrected with a hot iron (medium heat). A damp cloth placed on top will also help, which will make the veneer more elastic. Under the bubble, you can inject glue with a syringe, after which this place must be gently rubbed with your thumb and then secured with a clamp.

To eliminate such a defect in modern furniture, heating with an iron and a little pressure will be enough.

Sometimes the surface to be treated - for example, varnished, has defects. This surface should be restored before processing can begin. Find a small piece of flawless veneer that matches the texture of the veneer on the surface to be repaired.

Cut a window on the defective area. Attach a piece of veneer to this place. Make sure that the texture of the main background and the "patch" are exactly the same. Once you have found the desired position, use the scalpel to cut the patch exactly along the contour of the removed piece of veneer.

The damaged spots in the facing layer should be removed and "patches" should be made from veneer of a suitable texture and shape.

The knife or scalpel should be held at a slight incline in order to obtain a suitable patch. Make cuts across the texture, sometimes in a zigzag pattern, to avoid splitting the wood. The patch now fits exactly in place. It must be secured with an adhesive paper strip. Use a wedge-shaped hammer to gently smooth down the joints. The transition from the base veneer to the patch should be almost imperceptible. The restored surface can now be processed further.

The strength of the glued veneer depends on the condition of the substrate. Complications do not arise when veneer is glued to plywood. The surface of the latter is leveled by machine, and the veneer should only be cleaned in an appropriate way before laying. It is a completely different matter when a facing layer of noble wood is applied to the planed surface of the sawlog.

The "patch" lies under the veneer, which is being restored.

Both parts are cut in one step.

A solid wood base often has defects such as protruding knots that must be removed with a hole drill. After that, the blind hole is closed with a suitable circle of wood, if necessary, the protruding parts are cleaned with a file or sandpaper. Large defective areas are hollowed out in the form of a diamond. A new part is inserted into this place.

The resin that has emerged on the surface is removed with a special solvent.

There are three ways of finishing the veneer surface: waxing, polishing or - which is the simplest for a DIYer - transparent varnish. However, the latter method cannot always be applied. For example, antique furniture requires a different approach. To determine which one, you need to know how the surface of the product is processed or its approximate age. The point is that the distinction between clearcoat and varnish is difficult to establish. Only a specialist can confidently distinguish between the soft natural gloss of a shellac varnish varnish from the hard varnish gloss of a cellulose varnish applied with a brush. So, for the information of non-professionals: good transparent varnishes appeared about 50 years ago.

The polish is applied with a swab using soft curved lines in the form of eights. This ensures deep penetration of the polish into the pores of the wood.

To cover with polish using a swab, the covering layer must first be primed and sanded. Polishing should be carried out in continuous smooth sliding movements. Each pass on the surface should be working, that is, leave the thinnest layer of polish. After drying, the surface should be well sanded with a horsehair brush to give it a noble velvety shine.

Often it is necessary to repair damage on the surface of polished furniture. Minor scratches can be repaired with furniture polish. Small burnt holes are carefully cleaned with cycles and filled with putty or beeswax. The latter can, in contrast to putty, be applied to an already processed tree; it can be combined with varnish and varnish.

After the wax is slightly heated, small pieces are removed from it and pressed with a knife into the damaged area. Then rub this place with a soft cloth dipped in turpentine.

Imperfections in raw, untreated wood can only be repaired with putty after varnish has been applied. Putties are available in all shades.

Deep damage, affecting not only the varnish layer, but also the veneer, is repaired with shellac putty of a suitable tone.

The filling material is heated until it falls off in thick drops. Then the wax is taken with a knife and added to the filling material.

Shellac hardens relatively quickly. The protruding material is removed by cycles until it hardens.

A deep scratch that has cut through a layer of varnish or varnish inevitably leaves traces on the wood itself. Sometimes restoration with a kolinsky brush and suitable art paint helps. Oil paints are also used, for example, when toning wax, if it is necessary to fill a large hole. The recesses are filled only after thorough cleaning of the surface.

White spots on polished or clear lacquered surfaces are caused by heat, most often from hot objects such as hot dishes placed on the polish. Such defects are eliminated with shellac varnish, a mixture of turpentine and linseed or camphor oil.

The recesses in the polished or varnished surface are filled with shellac varnish of the appropriate tone. A few drops of varnish are heated and injected into the hole. After the varnish has hardened, the surface is carefully polished in circles with the thinnest steel "washcloth".

After restoration work, the surface of the product should be completely smooth. Carefully smooth the polish in the direction of the texture with a thin steel wool. After you've removed the residue again, apply the shellac base. Sanding again with sandpaper (# 240) is followed by a final surface treatment. Apply several thin coats of varnish with a flat brush. Give the renewed surface a shine with a linen cloth soaked in a special agent.

After the shellac putty has hardened in the restored places, it must be carefully leveled with a thin steel "washcloth"

On the cleaned surface, carefully apply a nourishing polish with a lump of linen cloth.

Over time, cracks appear on the surface of old tables made from glued solid boards, often at the end, and sometimes in the middle of the tabletop. In both cases, this can be corrected by inserting wedge-shaped plates into the slots (according to the thickness of the tabletop). Wedges are cut from a piece of wood that matches the furniture. The workpiece is processed with a plane, and then with a file until it is slightly thicker than the gap itself. At the end, the wedge is driven into the slot by tapping a hammer lightly.

After driving in, the wedge should protrude slightly above the table surface so that it can be leveled.

Since the crack rarely runs in a straight line, it must be straightened after removing dirt and possible chips. The smoother the surface, the stronger the adhesive bond. The wedge should fit very tightly into the gap. If the crack is in the middle, a dovetail-shaped wooden plate is glued on the back to prevent further cracking.

Once the glue has set, the wedge is carefully cut with a plane. Work carefully, being careful not to touch the main surface. The final alignment can be done with sharp cycles.

1. After cleaning and leveling the gap, measurements are taken, along which the plate of the desired shape is cut.

2. Cut the wedge-shaped plate (slightly larger than the slot) with a plane.

3. Glue the finished wedge into the slot. The table top with spacers on the top and sides is clamped in a vice.

4. To prevent new cracks from appearing, a dovetail-shaped wooden plate is glued into the countertop from the back side.

Has the old furniture lost its former luster? tired, but it's a pity to throw it away? All this is fixable: you can improve the appearance so that no one even thinks that the furniture is for many years. Do-it-yourself furniture restoration is painstaking work. But you don't have to do anything super complicated. Some methods are so simple that everyone can do it (this is, of course, not about antiques).

Video (click to play).

No matter how carefully the furniture is handled, scuffs, scratches, stains still occur. They are easy to eliminate. The main thing is to know how and with what.

If the wood surface has simply lost its luster, look for a wood care product that contains orange oil. Take a clean sponge, slightly dampen it and heat it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Spraying the product from a spray bottle, wipe it with a hot sponge (hands should be in rubber gloves with a spray inside).

A hot sponge and orange oil cleaner will restore the shine of wood furniture

Such transformations are possible using a marker, alcohol and wax.

Restoring a layer of varnish is a tricky business. Any furniture restoration begins with cleaning and degreasing and repairing the lacquer coating too. We use dishwashing detergent diluted in water: safe and reliable. After drying, proceed to the renewal of the polish.

On dark furniture, the scratch can be painted over with iodine, achieving the desired color with the number of layers or diluting it with water. If you have furniture markers, you can use them.
Deep scratches that have turned white cannot be painted over. There are other methods:
- Make a mastic with 4 parts melted wax and 3 parts turpentine. This paste is applied to the polish and rubbed with a soft cloth.
- If you have a shoe polish of a suitable color, you can cover it with it, and then polish everything with a cloth.
Scratches are painted over, then the coating is restored

You can simply refresh the faded polish on furniture with do-it-yourself mixtures:
1. Two parts each of linseed oil and turpentine and one part vinegar. All mix, apply with a swab, wait until it is absorbed and polished.
2. Mix oil and beer in equal parts and wipe the furniture with this compound. After absorbed, grate.
3. A more shiny surface will be if the beer is boiled with a piece of wax, cooled and applied slightly warm to furniture. When the composition is absorbed, the surface is rubbed to a shine.
A few more recipes in the video.

Quite often you have to remove the polish: this is not the most fashionable finish. Modern furniture is most often painted with opaque or tinted paints, and the surface is matte. In any case, the polish must be removed. There are several ways. Since varnishes are different in composition, they have to be selected empirically. But one of the methods should work.
1. You can mechanically remove old polish from furniture. If you have a sander, the process will go faster, if not, take coarse sandpaper and clean off the varnish layer until wood appears. Then take a fine grain and grind it to an even surface. Mechanical removal does not always work. Sometimes even a grinder does not work: the polish does not peel off, but begins to melt and stink. Then the tactics are changed.
2. You will need a piece of old glass. You put on gloves and break it into several fragments. With the sharp edges that have formed, brush off the coating to the wood. If there are chamfers and indentations, it is convenient to scrape them out with sharp edges. After the main layer of polishing is removed, with fine-grain sandpaper, everything is brought to a smooth state.
Do-it-yourself furniture restoration often requires harsh measures: some types of polishing can only be scraped off with glass

If the old furniture was prepared for painting, it must be cleaned of dust, wiped with a damp cloth and allowed to dry. After that, level everything with putty, smooth out all irregularities, wait until it dries. Take sandpaper and sand again, first with medium, then fine grain. Next, apply a layer of primer and wait for it to dry.

Application of varnish with a brush when restoring polishing of furniture

The primer is bought for the paint that is going to be used, or the paint can be diluted with a compatible solvent and covered instead of primer. After drying, you can paint.

You can paint with a roller or brush. Usually several coats are necessary: do not try to apply a lot of paint at once, as drips may appear. Better to apply several thin coats.This will make the surface even and uniform in color. Another trick: for uniform coloring, the layers are applied in different directions - along, then across. This also applies to the application of the varnish.

Some varnishes are easier to work with when they are warm. They are heated a little and then applied with a spray gun or brush. When warming up, you need to be careful: vapors may flare up.

In the order of staining: first, paint the inner surfaces, edges and joints, then move on to the outer ones. With this sequence, there is less chance of getting dirty or touching the already painted surface, ruining it.

If the varnish coating is even, without defects, and it needs to be painted over, you can do without removing this layer. There are special primers for difficult surfaces. Coat the surface with them, and paint after drying. They have components that even penetrate the varnish layer. Therefore, the paint will be well applied and hold for a long time. But such soils have a drawback: they are expensive. But they significantly save time.

Some secrets of wood coloring (including brushing and painting in two colors) are in the article "How to paint the lining". For a few secrets of even application of acrylic paint, see the video.

If any signs appear, you don't need to be upset. Restoration of lacquered or polished furniture is a simple solution to the problem, such work can be done carefully, without losing the value of the product and without disturbing the surface structure. After the restoration of the paintwork, your favorite things will delight you for a long time.

Before renewing old furniture, remember that it is not always necessary to change the lacquer layer right away. Several natural aging factors give antique furniture a special charm and value.

A common way to eliminate small defects that cover the furniture surface in everyday life is to wipe it with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol. After processing the damaged area for a while, you can correct the position. But in some cases, this method can harm the decorative layer. Therefore, you should not experiment, it is better to choose a specialized composition.

Let's present the characteristics of some varnishes for furniture restoration:
- Shellac varnish. The composition, after being applied to the surface, is able to successfully emphasize the texture of the wood and provide it with an original shade. It is a proven material that has been used for varnishing restoration for quite some time. The consistency of the varnish is not viscous, it resembles colored water. The restoration of the varnish layer takes a long time; to achieve the desired result, up to 40-60 layers of the composition are applied.
- Nitrocellulose. This composition can restore polishing of a large area. For repairs and overcoating, spray guns should be used that are capable of delivering the required speed. Otherwise, droplets may form, which will quickly solidify. Under these conditions, it will be impossible to achieve a smooth surface. Conventional spray guns for paints and varnishes will not work, it is recommended to contact the services of a restorer.
- Pentaphthalic composition. It is very convenient to repair furniture with such varnish with your own hands, since no special devices for its application are required. After complete drying, a thorough sanding is carried out and a finishing layer is applied with a paint brush. In this case, the surface will be glossy. If a matte effect is required, then the product must be applied with a swab. You do not need to purchase an additional product for priming. The first layer of pentaphthalic varnish acts as a primer. In total, at least four layers are applied.
After choosing a varnish for polishing furniture, it is worth deciding on the color of the coating. Very often, colorless varnishes are used to preserve the structure of the tree. However, when lacquered furniture is renewed, they try to match the lacquer to the tone of the surface.

Before you start restoring furniture, you need to prepare a number of tools and materials. So, you will need:
- rag;
- paint brush;
- scraper and sandpaper;
- masking tape;
- solvent;
- wood putty (for serious defects);
- as well as the varnish-and-paint composition itself.
The process of restoring wooden furniture with your own hands consists of several stages. As an example, the restoration of a crib will be given:

1. Preliminary preparation. Before refurbishing polished furniture, it must be disassembled. Next, we apply a cleaning solution to the surface, then rinse thoroughly with warm water. This procedure will soften the old polish, the varnish will crack and peel off in some places. Its remains must be removed with a scraper. Next, sanding is carried out with sandpaper. You need to start with a coarser abrasiveness and finish with a fine one. The surface should be matt and uniform. Next, remove the dust with a brush or a damp cloth.

2. Application of paint and varnish composition. Depending on the selected varnishing material for the furniture to be restored, the number of layers to be applied is determined. Each subsequent layer is applied after the previous one has completely dried (drying for at least 8 hours). If acrylic varnish is used, then to apply the first layer, the composition must be diluted with white spirit. Further, the restoration of furniture is accompanied by grinding the surface, after which another 2-3 layers of undiluted varnish are applied.

3. Stage of grinding the restored layer. Sanding the restored areas is carried out gently with the finest grit sandpaper until a uniform matte surface is obtained. Then everything is thoroughly wiped with a rag. The renovation of the old thing allowed us to get a brand new bed.

On the video: restoration of a crib.
- How to repair furniture with more serious damage (chips, dents, etc.)? Here you cannot do without the filling process. A special mixture for wood works great, although car putty can also be used. Defects are carefully patched up, the mixture is allowed time to dry and then sanded with fine sandpaper.
Repairing wooden furniture is a simple, but time-consuming process that requires endurance and patience. By performing all the stages of restoration correctly, you can extend the life of your favorite things. Basically, options were considered on how to restore old furniture with your own hands, which was still made from natural wood. At the present time, furniture is mainly made from chipboard sheets. It should be noted that repairing cabinet furniture with your own hands is, in principle, no different. You can use all the algorithms presented above.

Damage to home furniture occurs quite often and for various reasons. For example, if it is located near heating or heating devices, if there is a lack of air humidity or high temperature in the room, the furniture can simply unstick, and the veneer on it will peel off or bubble. What are the most popular options for the output of furniture from the building system are still observed?
- Transport and relocation. For obvious reasons, there are scratches, cracks, breaks, fractures of parts, breakage of fittings and other troubles.
- Long term of use. Old furniture can dry out, connections are broken, varnish and upholstery are erased, fittings break.
- Various insects. Pests can significantly reduce the lifespan of any furniture, and they do it quite often and with pleasure.
Damaged furniture must be properly repaired as soon as possible, otherwise it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to do this in the future. Let's figure it out in more detail.

Often furniture is covered with veneer made of valuable wood species. The veneer gives a beautiful appearance, the furniture shrinks and shrinks less. What is the most common cause of veneer flaking? Of course, this is a high dampness of the room, because wood does not like moisture. Cracks and bumps form first, then the material may flake off. How to fix it? First, the veneer should be ironed with a hot iron through a sheet of paper. If the procedure does not work, then a small cut must be made along the fibers with a reward, then slightly raise the edge of the veneer and coat the base with glue on both sides of the cut and rub. If glue has leaked at the cut, it must be carefully removed. This can be done with a sharp cycle or a jamb knife. What's next? Now take a sharpened wooden stick and bleach the seam with oxalic acid solution. After that, you can choose a stain for the type of coating, process the seam several times and cover it with colorless varnish.

If the veneer has moved away from the end of the furniture, along the edge. In this case, the base of the damaged piece is greased with glue and the peeled veneer is rubbed in. What is the best for lapping? To do this, you can take a block of hardwood and cover it in several layers with a piece of flannel. This is to prevent damage to the paintwork.

The veneer is deposited and the base is visible. To eliminate the defect, it is necessary to glue and grind the edges of the damaged area, then putty, tint with a stain and go through with varnish several times.

Such defects most often occur at the ends and corners of furniture. How to fix the flaw? First, the damaged area must be putty and primed. The grease is prepared from wood flour and mixed with glue (carpentry). But flour can also be replaced with chalk powder, talcum powder or pumice stone. Sometimes a rosin lubricant is used, which consists of a rosin mixture, zinc white and wood flour (proportion 6-3-1). In such a composition, it is necessary to add a pigment of a certain color. The grease is used in a heated form. And to seal the cracks, a color-matched sealing wax is used.

If a crack appears on the varnish layer. If you determine exactly what kind of varnish the furniture was covered with, the problem can be solved by treating the damaged surface with a solvent.

The surface covered with alcohol varnish or polish can be polished with ethyl alcohol. The surface with nitro varnish can be treated with solvents: No. 646, KR-36 and 647 or acetone. Small scratches on the polyester and nitrocellulose varnish can be removed by rubbing along the scratch with erased sandpaper and polishing the surface with polishing paste No. 290, after which it is necessary to treat it with a VAZ-3 vehicle.

How to fix potholes and chips on chipboard furniture? Such defects can be corrected using putty, which is prepared on the basis of chalk or talcum powder, wood flour, mixed with PVA glue or "Supercement". And of course the mixture must be mixed with a pigment to match the color of the furniture. The solution is applied to the defective surface, after which the material should dry (approximately 2-3 days). After the place must be sanded. If the furniture was varnished, then after filling it must be treated with colorless varnish. Potholes and chips can also be treated with a liquid filler with hardener and pigment to match the color of the furniture. The solution mixes well and is applied to the damaged area. On top of the putty, you can put glossy paper or tracing paper and press down with an iron. After the solution has hardened, the surface should not be sanded, you can simply remove the tracing paper.

If you suddenly find round, small holes (about 2-3 mm) on the outer surface of the furniture, inspect it from the inside, you most likely have grinder beetles. These are small insects that are very fond of wooden products. By the way, some of them emit a characteristic "ticking" sound, similar to the rhythm of a clock. Furniture that has been "treated" by such insects is destroyed and can turn into dust. In this case, the product cannot be repaired. But with minor damage, there are several ways to solve the problem. First, just buy a new part and replace it with the old one. Second, take a syringe, fill it with vaseline oil, inject it into the hole and cover the surface with window putty, paraffin or wax. After a couple of weeks, the procedure must be repeated.

First of all, you need to know: cracked and damaged furniture is repaired immediately after a flaw is found. Otherwise, the pins and spikes may deform at the joints and it will be much more difficult to repair the furniture. So do not debug for later, especially since fixing the shortcomings is not difficult. If you notice that some pieces of furniture are not tightly connected to each other, then you can start repairing.For this, the place of future gluing must be cleaned from the old glue. This can be done using sandpaper. After they need to be greased with casein, woodwork or PVA glue, squeeze tightly with a clamp, tie with twine and use wooden wedges to pull it as tightly as possible. It will also be nice to put some kind of weight on the parts to be glued, so they will grip better. If, after cleaning the thorns, gaps appear at the joints, it is necessary to drive in thin wooden wedges into them, having previously lubricated with glue. Small gaps can be closed with a cloth soaked in glue or putty.

In a stool with a metal cast frame, the thread breaks in the socket where the leg is screwed in. We fix it as follows: take a nut with an identical thread and grind down the end, leaving two protrusions. In the hole with the deformed thread, we make two cuts for the nut protrusions using a file, and in the seat it is necessary to select a recess for it. Next, we wet the nut and screw in the leg.

Loose chairs with struts in the structure connecting the frame can also be repaired. For this, holes are drilled: in the legs of small depth, and in the struts - through. Then it is necessary to tighten the screws until the legs and struts tighten.

Chipboard furniture sometimes pleases with fallen-off doors. This is due to the poor fastening of the screws on the walls. In this case, it is necessary to carefully drill the holes for the screw (diameter 8 mm), drive a wooden plug into it (after having coated it with glue) and screw the screw into it.

By the way, when drilling a polished plate, it is better to wrap the drill with a felt washer. This will protect the surface from damage, even if the drill passes through.