Wood Refinishing
What to expect during a wood refinishing project
Most homeowners have never hired a wood refinisher before. They have questions about disruption, timeline, chemicals, and what the finished result actually looks and feels like. This is what a Sue Wheeler project looks like from start to finish — no vague promises, no surprises.
By Sue Wheeler · April 2026 · 5 min read
Step One
The estimate
Sue looks at every job herself before quoting. She is not sending a salesperson. She will look at the existing finish condition, identify whether lead paint is present or likely given the home's age, assess any structural issues with the wood, and tell you specifically what the work involves. If a full refinish is indicated, she will say why. If the existing finish is sound enough that a lighter maintenance approach is the right call, she will say that instead.
If the job is not something she recommends — if the wood is genuinely past refinishing, or if the scope does not match what the homeowner actually wants — she will say so at the estimate. That conversation costs nothing. The goal is an accurate recommendation, not a signed contract.
The estimate conversation is also where timeline and staging get discussed in specific terms for your project — not general ranges from a website.
Before Work Begins
What happens before the first day of work
For interior work, fragile items near the work area get moved. For kitchen cabinet projects, the shelves behind the doors being removed need to be cleared. For staircase work, decorative items on or near the stairs come down. Sue will tell you exactly what is needed when she does the estimate.
For pre-1978 homes, the work area will be set up in compliance with EPA RRP requirements before stripping begins. This means plastic sheeting containing the work area, HVAC vents sealed to prevent dust migration, and proper signage. This is not optional and it is not excessive caution — it is the correct way to work on surfaces that likely contain lead paint, which most pre-1978 woodwork does.
The containment setup takes time at the beginning and end of the project. That time is built into the estimate and the timeline.
The Work Itself: Stripping
During the work — stripping
For jobs requiring a full refinish, stripping is the first phase. Chemical stripper is applied, allowed to work, and then removed by hand. No dip tanks. Dip tanks — a method used by some shops where the entire piece is submerged in a caustic bath — destroy the glue joints in raised panel doors and spindles, raise the grain, and make proper finishing nearly impossible afterward. The damage from a dip tank is not always visible right away, but it shows up.
Hand stripping is slower. It is also controlled. The stripper gets applied where it needs to go, worked in at the right pace, and removed without aggressive methods that would damage the wood profile. On carved newel posts, spindles, and raised panel doors, this is the only approach that preserves the original detail.
The work area is contained during stripping. Ventilation is managed. For lead paint work specifically, wet methods replace dry sanding throughout — slower, but the correct approach for surfaces with lead present.
The Work Itself: Finishing
During the work — finishing
After stripping and any repairs to the wood, the surface is sanded and prepared for finish. If the color is changing, stain goes on at this point — applied evenly, allowed to penetrate, wiped back. Then the first coat of finish goes on.
Multiple finish coats follow, with proper cure time between each one. This is not a detail — it is the difference between a finish that holds up and one that fails early. Applying a new coat before the previous one has cured traps solvents and compromises adhesion between coats. The coats go on when the wood and the previous coat are ready, not on a fixed-day schedule that ignores conditions.
Between coats, the surface is lightly sanded or abraded to level any raised grain and prepare adhesion for the next coat. The final coat is not sanded — it is the finished surface, applied to create the correct sheen and texture for the specification.
Staging and Access
What you can use — and what you cannot — during the project
Different types of projects have different disruption profiles. Here is what each one looks like.
Doors
Exterior doors typically go to the shop for refinishing and come back installed when finished. The opening is secured during that time. The turnaround depends on stripping complexity and weather conditions — exterior finish requires appropriate drying conditions to cure correctly.
Staircases
Work is staged to minimize disruption. For a single staircase, the goal is to have the staircase passable within a day or two of the final coat — not fully cured, but usable with care. Full cure takes longer. Careful foot traffic can resume relatively quickly; heavy traffic and furniture moving wait until the finish is fully hardened.
Kitchen cabinets
Doors and drawer fronts come off and go to the shop. The cabinet boxes stay in place. The kitchen remains accessible throughout the project — the shelves are open, the sink and appliances work, you can use the kitchen. The doors come back finished and are rehung when the finish has cured appropriately.
The Result
What the finished result looks and feels like
Fresh finish is smooth, consistent in sheen, and correct. The grain reads clearly through the finish film. The color is even across the surface. There are no witness marks from the stripping phase, no lap marks in the finish coats, no uneven sheen from rushed cure times.
Old-growth wood under fresh finish has a visual depth that new wood does not have. The grain pattern in a century-old piece of quarter-sawn white oak or heart fir is not something contemporary material can replicate. The result should look like the piece was built this way — not like it was stripped and redone, not like it was painted over, not like it was recently renovated. Like it was always supposed to look like this.
That is the standard the work is held to. If it does not meet it, the work is not done.
Common Questions
Common questions
Do I need to leave my home during the project?
For most projects, no. The work area is contained and the rest of the house is accessible throughout. For households with children under 6 or pregnant women, staying out of the immediate work area during active stripping is recommended as an additional precaution — not a requirement, but the right call for those households.
How do I prepare for a refinishing project?
Move fragile items away from the work area before the start date. For kitchen cabinet work, clear the shelves immediately behind the doors that are being removed. For staircase work, clear any décor from the stair area. Sue will tell you specifically what to move and what to expect at the estimate — there is no guesswork on your end.
What happens if something goes wrong?
In 36 years, most things that can go wrong on a refinishing project have come up at some point. Hidden damage under old paint, finish adhesion that behaves unexpectedly, wood movement after stripping — these are real situations that get addressed as part of the work. If there is an unexpected issue that changes the scope or the approach, Sue will tell you what it is and what the options are before proceeding. There are no surprises on the invoice that were not discussed first.
Ready to start?
Free estimate. Sue looks at every project herself before quoting — (314) 367-6054.