Classic Problem?
I need to get rid of some pretty bad “halos” of putty on Honduran Mhgny that has already been stained and finished ( 4years ago ).
I believe the finishers used a shop mix of Tung, Linseed and thinner. They, of course, are no longer in business.
Other than sanding completely thru the finish and the stain and starting over, I’m stuck.
Replies
Is the putty under the finish, or on top?
Oil finishes are among the easiest to repair, if the finish is really just oil and not an oil/varnish mix.
Definately under the finish. I am assuming that the finish is truly an oil because it has taken so long for the putty to show up and the problem is noticeably worse over the heat ducts where the finish seems to be "drying out".
Oil isn't typically used to finish a floor, I'm presuming this is a floor from your heat duct comment. Oil treated floors get dirty very quickly.
Most floors are finished with a varnish of some sort that actually seals the wood with a continuous film. If you look closely at the floor and possibly scrape at the finish a bit along a baseboard area you should be able to tell if there is a film forming varnish on the floor rather than oil only.
The spots may be showing up because the wood is darkening from exposure to light, making the putty that matched the original lighter color of the wood slowly appear as the wood darkened around it. Heat may accelerate the darkening but I'm not sure of that.
Another possibility is that the putty was in fact a colored wax. This would explain why it is more noticeable in especially warm sections of the floor, the wax is actually melting and migrating through the wood grain or up into the finish. Most putties dry fairly hard. Dig out some of the filler, if it is soft like crayon wax and melts easily in a spoon warmed by a match then you have a wax filler.
Just curious, is this in the US or overseas, possibly in a third world nation?
John W.
In Seattle, actually. And not a floor. A wall or 3 or 4 of built-ins and the heat ducts are just close to the cabinetry.
I think that I've concluded that sanding it off is my only solution at this point. The putty is rather chalky looking and deep in the grain. I just shudder at the time necessary to bring it all down to raw wood again.
Just a note. This problem only occurs on the face frames and baseboard. All of the doors and panels were made in our cabinet shop and are holding up beautifully.
I was guessing about the third world because you rarely see mahogany used as flooring in the U.S. and using wax to fill flaws is common in places where commercial wood putties aren't available.
Rather than sanding, try using a cabinet scraper in the areas where you can manuever one. With a sharp burr turned up on the edge, a scraper will remove the old finish fast without clogging up like sandpaper.
John W.
I suspect that you are stuck without a really good option. If the "putty" was applied before the finish, to fill nail holes or gaps in the joinery for instance, then the halos are putty and maybe oils from the putty that are actually in the wood itself. The only way to remove the marks completely will be to get down to the wood and scrape or sand some of the wood away before refinishing. To check that you got all of the putty removed, wipe the repaired area with paint thinner or naptha to highlight any of the putty that might have been missed.
Professional refinishers use artist's oil colors to blend in flaws and patches, literally painting, with fine artist's brushes, an area of fake grain to hide damage. You could try that on top of the existing finish without risking damage. If it didn't look right, you could wipe the faux graining off before the oils dried. If the fix worked, apply another coat of finish over the oils, after they're dried, to protect them and blend them in more completely.
John W.
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