Hi All,
I’ve been hired to refurbish a built-in bookcase in someone’s kitchen. It’s a low bookcase, about 30″ high. It runs under a window, so the top is highly visible. The top of the bookcase is flush with the windowsill.

The owner remodeled her kitchen with oak caninets, natural stain finish. The top of the bookcase currently is birch with some sort of orangy-yellow finish.

There is no problem with construction, as the bookcase is built solidly and it is attached to the wall very well.

The owner wants to freshen up the bookcase top with natural oak that matches the rest of the remodeled kitchen. We’re not concerned with the inside of the bookcase.

Here are my challenges/questions:
1. What is the best oak material to use on the top?
2 I need to be careful not to add height to the bookcase, since it is flush with the windowsill. I think I can get away with 1/32″ or so, but that’s about it.
3. If I add veneer to the top, how do I prepare the surface for proper adhesion? Also, the top is not perfectly even after years of wear, so I need to get the surface more or less leveled. Is epoxy a good choice?
4. Whatever resurfacing material I choose, I’ll need to build out the top rail of the face frame to cover the edges.

As always, a “simple” project turns out to be more involved than I thought!

Any suggestions would be warmly welcomed.

Thanks,
Matt